


Ravage

by etylaeon



Category: South Park
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Confusion, Crenny, Drama, M/M, Mental Instability, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Twenny, creek - Freeform, happy ending depending on who you like more, other pairings idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-03 05:45:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10960932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etylaeon/pseuds/etylaeon
Summary: Kenny learns the consequences of  playing with other people's feelings, Tweek struggles to keep himself  together and Craig steps up to know the truth.*Obviously, my summary sucks, but please give it a chance**adding warnings just to be safe but there isn't anything too graphic going on, guys.**added art*





	1. Broken But Breathing

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
>   
> 

The blonde boy quivered as the brisk air from the window touched his pale skin. He had his arms around himself, his knees tucked closely together, exposing his thighs that had purple-ish marks on them. Sounds of his light whimpers and sobs echoed and surely, if anyone was at home, rescue was guaranteed. Unfortunately, no one was home. There wasn't anyone he could rely on. Although, he had a name to call in mind, it would be a waste of breath since he lives far from his home. This person was someone who cared about him a lot—Craig Tucker. Even though their pretentious love story had already ended months ago, Craig remained his close friend.

Close friend? Craig never acted like he genuinely cared about any living thing on the planet other than Stripe. If people from school would describe him, ninety percent would give out the word: Asshole and the remaining ten percent would be saying he's a dick. But there was something actually nice about Craig that only Tweek could see. Out of all his friends at school, Craig was the one who showed concern and he was definitely someone he could depend on. Whenever he needed help, Craig would offer to help, always, no matter how tough that situation way. If only he could call him right at this time.

The solution that Craig gave him always worked. It was to fill his mind with happy thoughts which is what he did. He closed his eyes and started thinking of all the fun memories he had with his friends at school.

He spent the night with his body on the cold floor, slowly losing his grip of reality as he slowly dozed off.

\---

As the sun's rays hit his face the next morning, he was kind of reminded that it was another day to survive. He had to move or he would be late. But he didn't think that something simple such as standing up never felt so hard. His whole body hurt. Not that he was not used to this. Every Wednesday, he gets to experience the same shit, if not same, worse. If he was lucky enough that his parents stayed at home on a Wednesday, then he's spared from all the probable pain he is bound to endure. For now, he is left with no choice but to forget. He had to brush it off, move on, act like everything is fine until it was time to once again shiver in fear of the next Wednesdays to come.

Right after showering and drying up, he was faced with another task which was dressing up. Easy as it may sound, the struggle to wear a button up sleeved shirt with trembling hands takes almost forever to finish. Although he was sure that everyone at school was used to seeing his shirt incorrectly buttoned, he wanted to make an effort to look presentable at least. An effort wasted as he got frustrated and just went with whatever position the buttons were locked in.

He clenched his fists before moving out of his room to stop his hands from twitching. He didn't want his mother to worry. For the other days of the week, he appeared to be fine. It would be fishy if this day would turn out differently.

"Tweek!" His mother just got home this morning, together with his father. They were always not around during Mondays/Wednesdays because they were busy handling their franchise on another town.

"Yes, m-mom?"

"Come here, sweety." Her voice was of a thoughtful tone. She just had a sweet smile plastered on her face while she gestured Tweek to come over to her.

Tweek complied right away after grabbing his blanket of Ativan from the table. It was placed inside his sling bag as he walked towards his mother.

"Look at your shirt! My my! Let me fix that!” Just as Mrs. Tweak unbuttoned the first button of his son’s dark green shirt, Tweek panicked. His bruises on his chest might be discovered and that was the last thing he wanted.

“I-I’ll do it, mom. It’s fine!” He was terrified but he had to try not to show that. He didn't want his mom to be suspicious of anything. There was no way he could tell his mother about what’s going on. He knew that if he starts telling what had happened; his parents’ business would be in jeopardy which will destroy his father's hopes and dreams. He remembered how excited about his dad was about the success of the franchise he had worked on and he did not want to ruin everything. He felt that he can handle everything just fine anyway. Whoever was abusing him will eventually get tired.

"Drink your medicine, okay? You're trembling horribly." She brushed through his son's hair with her fingers as she waited for Tweek to drink his medication. She fixed his son's collar. 

"I-I... I will l-la..Later."

"Nooo, you should have some breakfast first and then drink your medicine." Her mom had her arms on her waist as if scolding him. She placed a plate on Tweek’s space of the table then placed one waffle on it. “Here you go, sweety. Eat up, okay?' 

Each time his mother greeted him on Friday mornings, the urge to cry and spill out what was going on with his life felt extremely strong. Even though they weren't parents of the year in others' eyes, Tweek wouldn't exchange them for any other parents at South Park. In fact, they actually became better parents starting that day that he faked a relationship with Craig. They tried to fix him by bringing him to a psychiatrist. They also lessened his errands and allowed him to go out more with his friends. So how could he break these peoples' hearts? His concern about his parents were more triumphant than his concern for his own self. All he could do now is pretend that nothing happened and obey his parents, which he did as he sat down and started eating the waffle on the plate.

He grabbed the pitcher of water but accidentally spilled some water on the table. “Gah!” He quickly aimed to wipe it with the hem of his shirt until his mother’s hand stopped him from doing so.

"I'll clean that. Don't worry, son. Go ahead and drink your medicine." His mom took a rug and wiped the table with it. 

"Thanks, mom. Sorry." Tweek sadly watched his mom wipe the table.

With that, Tweek quickly threw in the pill in his mouth and took a gulp of water from his glass. He had to stay for a couple of minutes, like fifteen minutes or so to at least let his body absorb the medication. He spent this watching her mother as she cheerfully washed the dishes. Watching her made him decide that he did make the right decision of not telling her about what’s going on.

“Tweeek.”

“Yes, mom?”

“Did you check your bag? You might have forgotten something.”

“Yes, mom. I have everything in my bag.” Tweek smiled at his mother then stood up as got ready to leave.

"Be careful! Good luck with school!” She waved at him with a free hand.

Tweek waved back and went for the door.

\----

He drowned his mind with happy thoughts just like he was advised to. Craig told him to think of good memories when he felt uneasy or worried about anything. Though this now deemed unnecessary as he had medication but it was very calming to think about good times with people from his school. There were a lot of good memories replay in his head. Most of the things that happen at school were very unusual but it was viewed positively by Tweek. What memory he cherishes most was that summer vacation when Token invited him to a summer party in his mansion. The fact he got invited made him thankful enough. They had a great time and this was the time he got closer to Craig’s set of friends. He became a part of Craig's group. If not Token, Clyde would invite him to parties, after school escapades and game nights. He was glad that the Asians randomly paired him up with Craig. That event changed his life a lot.

"Hey." A familiar voice came from behind him. Just as he was actually thinking of this person, he suddenly appeared before him. He looked back to see Craig, wearing his usual blue chullo, dark blue hoodie and dark colored pants. He had a hand up waving.

"Craig!" Tweek said, sounding excited.

"You seemed spacing out. I've been behind you for more than 5 minutes. You okay?" Craig looked at him with concern. He was not embarrassed to show concern towards Tweek, but he does this only when he is alone with him. If he was with friends, he maintains his anti-social nature.

"Oh, sorry! I just suddenly remembered something that's why!" Tweek smiled at him. Craig’s presence always bring comfort to Tweek. In an instant, his worries started disappearing one by one. The bad memory of what happened that night just vanished in an instant.

"Hn." Craig placed a hand in his hoodie pocket then gave Tweek a pat on the head. Craig does the patting thing a lot when they are together.Even at times when there wasn't even a reason to do it. It was almost like he was a puppy. Tweek didn't mind this though. He actually liked the attention he was given. 

There was no conversation after that. Nobody dared disturb the silence. The blonde was not good with starting conversations anyway. Not that there wasn’t anything to talk about, Tweek just respects the fact that Craig enjoyed silence. It would be like this every morning but it wasn’t awkward for them. 

The one who decided to talk was Craig. "Did you finish your homework?" It sounded more like a desperate attempt to have a conversation. A small talk about school coming from someone who never cared about anything academic. 

Tweek wanted to be appreciative of the effort made to talk to him but he was brought back to last night's ordeal. Whatever it was that he went through, all happened after he wrote a quarter part of his homework. His heart started beating fast, his hands started quivering a little. Now was not the time to be remembering those and he did his best to think of something else. 

Craig looked at him, observing the way he reacted to his question. He could've sworn he saw Tweek's hand shaking before he quickly hid his hand in his bag pretending to search for the homework.

"Well?" Craig said obviously growing impatient. 

Tweek had to act normal. He smiled weakly. "I wasn't able to complete it last night. Math is so hard, Craig!" 

"Ah." Nobody could fool Craig. He noticed that something was off about the way Tweek was behaving. Tweek seemed to be like this for weeks now. Craig did not quite get why but he does not intend to pry, not directly at least. It probably was not a big deal, too much coffee probably. But he had this skill. Despite not caring about anyone or pretending not to care, he was able to tell how his friends genuinely felt behind the masks they wore. He could tell if Clyde was not in the mood. Though there was no special skill needed to tell if Clyde was happy or not, there were numerous instances that he was down yet he showed everyone his noisy side. As for Token, Craig knows just when he getting offended despite the shrugs he gives off when being teased. But this skill mostly worked on Tweek. He formed a close bond with him when they decided to fake a relationship before. It allowed him to know every bit of him. He got to observe how Tweek behaved during various circumstances. And from these observations, he was able to conclude that ever since the day before they decided to go back to being friends, Tweek acted a bit oddly. Not that he assumed that Tweek was gay for him but he was sure Tweek was hiding something.

The bus stopped right before them. The two boys went up the bus, sitting beside each other. Craig sat the window side, Tweek next to him. Usually, Craig would take out his iPod to listen to music, a douchebag and quite anti-social move. But today was different. He was trying to make a conversation instead. He wanted more reactions from Tweek without directly asking what's going on. "Where's that homework?"

"Huh?" Tweek looked at him confusedly.

"The homework. Where is it?" 

"Why?"

Craig let out an annoyed, "Just let me see it." 

There was a lot of hesitance in Tweek's eyes before he pulled out the homework. Craig quickly took it from the other boy's grasp. He started checking what he worked on, pretended he cared about what was written there. He scanned the paper. Five out of eight questions were answered. Part of the paper, the upper right side, appeared to be crumpled. It looked as if it was just flattened out. His writing seemed messier than usual too. It was almost like he was on detective mode. "What's with your homework?"

"W-what do you mean?" There went his accidental stutter.

"Your paper’s a mess. Have you been drinking a lot of coffee?"

Paranoid that Craig had noticed his shaking hands, he lied. "Y-yeah. Mom had a new batch this morning so I tried it." He raised his right hand to rub the back of his neck. Trying to control his trembling and stuttering was becoming difficult with all the questions other boy threw at him.

_This morning huh? But you did your homework last night, dummy_. Craig noticed Tweek struggling so he stopped asking and offered help instead. "I'll help you answer the last three questions."

Instantly, Tweek smiled. "Th-thanks, Craig!"

The bus reached the school's parking lot. The two got off the bus and they were greeted by Clyde. Clyde seemed to be very cheerful and this was something that Craig dreaded. This very cheerful mood that caused him to do and say dumb things.

"Hello, guys!!!" Clyde smiled with all his teeth showing. He ran to Tweek and grabbed Tweek's hands. 

"Hi, Clyde." Tweek shyly looked at him.

"Aw, you're so cute, Tweek!" Letting go of Tweek's hands, he aimed for Tweek's cheeks this time.

Craig started walking off. "Here we go again."

"HEEYYY! Don't get jealous or something!" Clyde laughed as he tried to catch up with Craig.

Clyde caught up with Craig and casually placed an arm on his best friend's shoulder. "Aw come on! He was really cute, that’s all!"

"The fuck. Go away!" Craig pushed Clyde's arms off him.

This had Token shaking his head as he arrived. "It's like a routine. Right, Tweek?"

"Yeah!" Tweek chuckled.

Craig slightly looked back just to check on Tweek. He saw him with his usual I'm-okay-guys mask on. It just made him more determined to find out what was going on.


	2. Belonged to but Never Owned

After school, Craig wanted to ease his curiosity. He planned going home with Tweek. He waited for Tweek to finish placing his stuff inside his locker before offering to walk him home.

Tweek approached Clyde and Token with the same happy face he had this morning. He was giggling at Clyde’s stories and Token’s unimpressed reaction.

Craig walked in front of Tweek. "Hey."

"Huh?" Tweek blinked at him.

"Let's go home together."

There was a short pause before the three boys started pointing behind him. Clyde even had a wacky face on, his lips all smoochy, and his eyebrows twitching up and down. Craig turned around to see Kenny, who was waving his direction. The three were used to going home without Craig. They knew he would be going home with Kenny. Rumors say that Craig and Kenny were dating now. Nobody dared ask Craig for a confirmation regarding this, not even Clyde. People just shrugged it off. Kenny was known to switch boyfriends/girlfriends too quickly.

For some reason, he couldn't say no to Kenny. He then left with Kenny and Tweek went home with the two other boys, Clyde and Token. It was a free ride since Token had a car pick him up.

\----

 

Craig's room smelled like lemons. His mom was aware that Kenny would be coming to work on a project with Craig so in preparation, the sheets were replaced and scented air freshener was sprayed in his room this morning. The two boys laid on the white sheets. Craig leaned against the headboard of his bed while he scanned his phone. On the other hand, Kenny was latched onto him. His left arm snaked behind Craig's neck, his other twirled the ends of Craig's hair.

"Can't believe you'd tell them that, Tucker."

"Well, what do you expect me to tell them? He came here for sex?" Craig sarcastically said as he scanned through his messages.

"If I said yes, would you tell your mom that?" Kenny teased then covered the phone's screen with a hand.

"The fuck." Craig got annoyed cause he was reading something.

Kenny slowly grabbed the phone with his free hand and threw it to the edge of the bed. After that, he placed his hand on Craig's face and had their faces an inch apart. "That's enough of that phone."

With a grin on his face, the inch of space between their lips disappeared, his lips met Craig's. As Kenny gave Craig a couple of kisses, he adjusts his position so he could be on top of Craig. He knelt before him, swirling his tongue inside the other boy's mouth. His kisses were brutal but Craig gives out no moan, no emotion. He just goes with the flow with whatever Kenny was doing.

Kenny trailed kisses from Craig's lips down to his neck. His other hand wandered over the crotch of the boy before him. He smirked. "Are you going to let me suck it now?"

"No." Craig's voice still had the same firm tone it had every time this question is asked.

"What the actual fuck, Tucker." Kenny stopped groping him and sat on his own legs.

"I said no."

"Can you fucking tell me why?" Kenny sounded angry.

"I don't want you to, simple as that." Craig was really annoyed but continued, "With the number of times I said no, I don't get why we still keep on going back to this fucking conversation."

"Yeah. As if your ‘I don't want to‘ answers anything."

Craig failed to understand why Kenny kept on insisting on sucking him. He didn't want anyone to suck him in general anyway so why was this such a big deal. "What do you want to hear then?"

"Dunno. Probably something more believable and real perhaps."

"Okay." Craig let out a sigh. "You said no strings attached."

"Yeah. So?"

"If anyone had to suck me, I'd want that to be someone special to me."

Kenny's bitter laugh echoed in the room. "Whoa, Craig. Special? No one is special to you. Unless you're talking about getting your dick sucked by a guinea pig."

Craig was sure he heard Kenny's voice crack for a bit. Did his words hurt him or something? Kenny was one of the few people he couldn't read. To him, Kenny simply wanted to mess around with people and he simply hangs out with anyone for and nothing more.

"That's it, Tucker. Fuck you. I’m leaving.” Kenny put his hood back up, wore his shoes, grabbed his bag and left.

He was left in his room, not that he cared anyway. Immediately, Craig opted to look for his phone, grabbed it from under the pillow at the edge of his bed and flicked through the screen to continue reading the message he was reading earlier. Apparently, it was Tweek's message. It read:

**Thanks for helping me out with homework. <<**

This caused him to smile and idea struck him that moment. He sent a reply to Tweek and was the start of their text message exchanges.

**> >Do you mind if I go there?**

**What?! Like right now?! <<**

**> >Yeah. We don't have homework anyway.**

**I don't know, my parents might think I'm slacking off or something. <<**

**> >I'll do the explaining for you. See ya!**

**HEY WAIT <<**

**CRAIG?! <<**

His text sounded like he was already at the door but he was still sitting by the edge of the bed, tying up his shoe lace then fixing up his top. Finally, he grabs his phone and heads for the door.

\---

For a moment, it was funny to think that Tweek kind of panicked over his sudden decision to come over but then it kind of made Craig guilty that he did that after checking his phone with multiple messages of Tweek. He seemed to be worried that his room is too messy and other minor details that do not really matter to Craig at all. This made him decide to walk faster and send a text to Tweek telling him that it was fine and he just wanted to show him something. Of course, he made that up. The mistake was, there wasn't really anything to show. But he thought, it would be best to deal with it later. He finally reaches the Tweek's residence. The door bell was rung and he patiently waited for someone to answer.

"Oh, Craig! Hello, Craig!" It was Mrs. Tweak and she greeted him with a smile.

"Is Tweek here, Mrs. Tweak?" Of course he knows he is but he just had to ask to make it a bit more convincing that he was here for a sudden purpose. He can't be anywhere else anyway. He doesn't do errands at the coffee shop they own anymore.

"Yes, he is. Come inside. He's in his room."

He expected that he would be questioned for visiting but he was just welcomed freely. It was a weekday too, and parents don't like their kids screwing around during weekdays. Oddly enough, Tweek's mother came to him, she whispered something to Craig. Craig just nodded and went upstairs.

When he opened the door, he saw Tweek all busy tidying his desk. He was placing things inside his toy box but most of them fell on the floor instead. He picked the Leggos up, like a handful at a time. Several pieces kept on falling off. Craig noticed that Tweek was trembling again. He felt bad for a bit cause it might have been his fault for startling him. He knelt down and grabbed the Leggos and placed them in the box himself.

"C-Craig!" Tweek was still surprised even if he knew Craig was coming. He didn't expect him to arrive right away.

"Are you okay? Sorry, if I came here without getting an actual approval." Craig wasn't looking at Tweek but instead on the weird marks on his wall. He could've sworn he hasn't seen those before when he last visited. That was just last Monday and he could remember that Tweek's room was being cleaned during weekends. He wasn't a stalker but he sure knows the schedule or even the way Tweek's room looked. He was just very observant. Craig stood up to check on it. Tweek was terrified as he watched Craig, who was playing detective and eyeing the marks on the wall. The blonde boy was so troubled that he couldn't think of an excuse for those marks.

"Hey, Tweek. What happened here?" Craig finally asked as he ran his index finger on the marks. There was a very shallow dent on it. Some of the dirt from the marks transferred to Craig's finger.

Tweek couldn't give an answer. Anxiety was forming in his stomach. He stood there frozen, his hands shaking and his breathing quite heavy. Whenever he started thinking of an excuse, he was flooded with thoughts of what had happened right on the spot where Craig stood.

"Well?" Craig failed to realize that he had just given the other boy a panic attack. He continued to look at the marks on the wall. When no reply was heard for a minute or two, he finally turns around to look at Tweek. Tweek had his eyes fixed on the floor. He held his head with his two shaking hands. Quickly, Craig ran to him and embraced him.

"Tweek,what's wrong?" Craig could feel Tweek's heart pounding fast. He wasn't expecting a reply from Tweek who had his body quivering. Craig released Tweek from the embrace and held his hand.

"Tweek, listen. Remember what I told you? Happy thoughts?" His grip on Tweek's hand tightened. He looked at the blonde boy straight in the eyes, but Tweek still had a blank look on his face.

"Do you remember that time when we had our game night..." Craig was calm now at this point. He would always do this when Tweek had a panic attack and it always worked. He just had to think of a random memory, one that might make Tweek slow his thoughts down and put his worries to rest. It was tough thinking of a good memory cause he can't tell whether it was "good" or not. For him, most of the things that happen around him were too annoying or just plain dumb and senseless. But he knew Tweek would think differently. He was sure that Tweek treasures every memory spent with his friends. So automatically, game nights, after school gimmicks and sleepovers were the top choices. "The one where Clyde invited a lot of people in like Stan and his group of friends?"

The moment Tweek heard this, his mind when floating to that mentioned event.

///Flashback///

Clyde stood up and had one of his legs on the table. He raised his fist high up with the biggest smile on his face. "SEE! That's what you call gaming, folks!" He smirked at Kyle, who just got his ass kicked on Tekken. He continued to do super hero poses as he laughed. Kyle just sat there unaffected. Token just stared at his friend and shook his head. If anyone could read Token's mind, it would probably say  _Why do I have such retarded friends?_

Cartman, of course, had plenty of things to say. "You see, the problem here, Clyde, is that you chose to fight a Jew." It was expected that the trash-talking was not reserved for Clyde but instead for Kyle. "Jewish people are not expected to win." Cartman didn't bother to look at Kyle and grabbed the controller.

"Oh shut up, Fatass! Like you know how to play that."

"No, Kyle. You shut your damned Jew mouth and watch." He popped a handful of chips in his mouth before pressing start.

"Wait- I need to pee!" Clyde ran to the bathroom.

"Did you just see that, guys? He got scared already." Cartman proudly said. A wicked laughter was heard. 

"I thought I heard him say that he was going to pee, Cartman." Craig had his hand on his chin as waited for Cartman's comeback. It was expected anyway. That guy really just doesn't shut up ever.

"Gee whiz, Craig. Obviously, that was his excuse. What excuse do you have?" Cartman threw the controller at Craig. But the black haired boy was not in the mood to play. He just wanted to sit there and watch everyone do retarded things, snap back at each other and well, play. He tosses the controller back at Cartman

"Oh. Yeah yeah. You're gay so you can't play, of course that's your excuse." Craig just shrugged as Cartman looked around for a worthy opponent. "Hm, what about you, Tweek? You two are gay for each other but I think you're not as gay as Craig over here."

"Not as gay? Isn't it going to be the same level of gayness? I mean I'm dating Craig so..." Tweek scratched his head in confusion and Kyle and Stan started laughing. Token and Craig were holding in their laughter. Kenny just sat there, eyes on the floor.

"Fuck that. Did you train him to speak like that, Craig?" Cartman shook his head and handed the controller to Tweek who was still thinking about what Cartman meant by what he said. Both of them pressed the start button. Cartman selected the character "Lee".

"I think you should go for the fat one right there. You know, so it's in character." Kenny finally spoke. Craig laughed at this comment.

"Yeah!" Kyle agreed and laughed as well.

"Shut your damned mouth, Jew!"

Tweek picked a female character, Lili, specifically. Nobody knew of Tweek's playing skill cause he usually just watches people play. Kyle looked at the way Tweek held the controller and compared it to Cartman who had the controller under the hem of his shirt.

"Dude, are you just going to mash the buttons or something?" Kyle has an eyebrow raised.

"Why won't you shut up! Just watch. This is an ancient technique I learned from Koreans."

"No fuck you, Cartman. You're gonna go button mashing." Kyle just leaned on the couch and crossed his legs. 

"Does anyone know how to say shh in Jew?" Cartman smirked at Tweek. "You are so going to get owned, Spaz!"

The round finally started. Cartman pressed all buttons in a desperate attempt to trigger a special move right away. He saw this on tournaments that the moment the enemy falls, he could use combos endlessly so the enemy couldn't move anymore and he could earn his win quickly. But of course, if you just press whatever button, the combos cannot be triggered and Tweek was kind of a careful player too. He moved his character away from Cartman's the moment the round started. When Cartman did successfully have his fingers land on the right order of buttons for a combo, Tweek's character was able to side-step and the combo did not push through.

"What the fuck, Tweek! You can't just keep on avoiding me!" Cartman glared at Tweek.

"Eh. Okay.." Tweek skillfully pressed some buttons and whatever Cartman planned in his head, the endless combos and such, Tweek executed using his character. Craig was amazed that he paid full attention to what Tweek was pressing. Stan and Kyle cheered for Tweek while Token and Kenny just silently watched.

The screen flashed a "Lili Wins" text on the screen. Everybody was shocked, They didn't know that Tweek was good at this game. Stan went over to him. "That was cool, man!"

Tweek smiled shyly and saw Craig having his thumbs up. "Thanks, I- I guess."

Cartman was so mad. "Argh! Why were you pressing random buttons, Tweek! That's not allowed."

"You dumb fatass! You're the one who was pressing random buttons!" Kyle glared at the fat kid.

"Koos emmememem kek." Cartman started to randomly speak gibberish.

"What?" Kyle looked at him confusedly.

"That's shut up in your Language. I Googled it." Cartman smirked at him.

"Fuck you!"

Clyde went back zippering his pants. "What happened, guys?"

"Did you just pee a gallon?" Token remarked.

"I'm sure as fuck that he pooped out of fear that he will get his ass kicked." Cartman confidently said.

"You got your ass kicked, Cartman." Craig reminded him.

"NO, YOU GOT YOUR ASS LICKED, CRAIG! Fuck you!" Cartman grabbed a lot of chips and shoved it in his own mouth.

"That, by far, is the lamest comeback you've ever thought of." Craig laughed, just as everybody did. Cartman just grunted in annoyance and threw the controller. 

 

///end flashback///

 

Tweek felt the shaking of his hands gradually lessened as it was being held by Craig. He looked up at Craig and saw him , smiling. It gave him that weird feeling in the stomach. It was sort of like the extereme happiness he feels when he had his last birthday. "Th-thanks, Craig." He finally managed to say.

Craig was the guaranteed cure for Tweek and he knew it. That's why he was always willing to help. And now that he was sure something was indeed bothering Tweek, he has to find out to help his friend out. He did not continue asking for details about the marks on the wall but he did keep record of it in his head. He did not want Tweek to remember his worries anymore so he tried to change to a different topic. "So, remember that I said I was going to show you something?"

"Y-yeah.. what is it?" Tweek looked at him curiously and hid his hands behind him cause it was still shivering a little.

Running out of ideas of what to show, he aimed for his phone. He flicked the screen in search of a photo that he possibly could not have shown Tweek yet. He then taps on a photo and shows it to Tweek.

"Aww.. wow that's adorable." It was a photo of Stripe and he had a chullo on. A custom-made tiny chullo.

"My sister made that." Then Craig finally realizes that showing a photo was a flawed attempt, he defensively said, "I mean I could've just sent that over the messenger but it's cooler in person." He felt like punching himself. It was the dumbest excuse in the world. The dumbest excuse that Tweek didn't seem to mind as he smiled browsing the photos.

Just when Tweek was about to reach the last photo of Stripe, Craig snatched the phone from him. "Well, that's it. Haha." He nervously said.

"You're weird. Are you hiding a photo there or something!" Tweek teased him.

"No, but you already saw the last photo so..." Craig reasoned out.

"Ohhh.. you must have an awkward selfie in there..." Tweek smirked at him.

Craig noticed that Tweek was not stuttering or trembling anymore. He smiled subconsciously.

"So it is an awkward selfie!" Tweek pointed at him.

"No! What the hell, why would I take photos of myself!" Craig hid his phone in his pocket.

"Lemme see it!" Tweek chuckled as he tried to grab the phone from Craig's pocket.

"Tomorrow! I'll show it if you win against me on any game you choose. It's fine if I come over, right? Like... a game night or something." Craig's self-inviting is totally out of control now that he is curious about Tweek's situation.

"Eh! Okay! Let's play Injustice 2! Then I'm going to win and you're going to show that photo!" Tweek stuck out his tongue at the other boy.

He laughed a bit. _Wow. He can't even win against me ever in that game. Why the hell did he choose that?_ He thought. An affirmative nod was his reply.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." 

\----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah.. If I get any typos, I apologize... 
> 
> Thanks again for reading. Thanks for the kudos too. I might be drawing another artwork for this chapter depending on my schedule haha


	3. Kind but Cruel

Finally, it was Friday. Tweek had been looking forward to this. It was not mainly because Craig was coming over. Generally, he liked Fridays and weekends. Those were days when he didn’t have a lot of errands and his father allowed him to spend time with friends. He didn't need to take multiple pills during Fridays and weekends too because good things usually happen. If bad things do happen, he'd always be with Craig anyway so he is surely going to be fine. Fridays and weekends are usually the time when the sleepovers and other random activities that Clyde could think of happen. Oddly enough, Craig is the presumed leader of the group and yet, Clyde always gets to decide what they'd do during weekends. As lame as they were, Tweek have always enjoyed any activity that involved this group.

But today was one of those days that Craig failed to wake up early as stated on the text message that Tweek read before he went out to go to school on his own. It wasn't a problem since there were multiple instances that Craig fails to walk with him to school as he stays up late when he is into some game. 

Arriving at the school and walking along the corridors alone was not comfortable for Tweek though. He came in too early so Token and Clyde aren't expected to be around yet. The first thing he thought of doing to keep his mind off of being alone was to rummage his locker and somehow the stuff inside arranged properly. It wouldn't be much of a problem as his medication would help him be successful on this Clean-the-locker mission. The locker was a mess. Mainly because he didn't have time to fix it ever. Had any wrong object be pulled, all the things inside will tumble down. Tweek eyed the stuff inside and checked which object to pull off first as if he was playing Jenga. 

"Hey, Tweak." He was called by last name for sure but it did not matter since his first and last name sounded the same anyway. 

To his side, he saw Kenny leaning down to greet him. Tweek smiled at him then returned a "Hey, Kenny." 

It was most definitely just a greeting and Kenny would just leave, at least that was what Tweek thought so he went back to checking his locker. As he saw a piece of paper stuck in between the books, notebooks and a bunch of trash inside, he had this strong desire to pull it out. He was curious about what was on it and it just seemed that pulling it wouldn't cause a topple-down, or would it? Of course, it did cause all his books to fall off. Because he started panicking,he failed to notice that Kenny still stood beside him.

Kenny placed a hand on Tweek's shoulder. "Don't panic, Tweak. I'll help you out." He then squats down and starts grabbing things to put back in Tweek's locker. It took a few seconds before Tweek realized that he wasn't helping out cleaning his  **own** locker, letting the other boy handle everything.

"GAH! Sorry, Kenny!" He picked up his books and quickly stuffed them inside the locker.

Kenny laughed a little. "If the intention was to organize your locker, you're gonna have a bad time." 

The other boy laughed at this as well. It was true. Nothing is being pull into place. The locker still ended up a mess. But at least he was able to put things back inside thanks to Kenny. 

"Thank you, Kenny! Sorry if I kind of---"

"Wasted my time? Nah. I'm glad to help." Kenny shrugged then instantly left after seeing Clyde running to Tweek.

"Tweeeeeeeek!" Clyde twirled once in front of Tweek with a hand up high like he was in a musical play.

Tweek giggled at this then checked Token's reaction which showed his signature "Yes, I tolerate this shit and no, that doesn't mean I like it." look. Token doesn't say anything and just waves to Tweek.

Clyde put an arm around Tweek and whispered. "What did Kenny tell you?"

"Huh? He just helped me out with my locker." Tweek explained.

"I see!" Clyde removes his arm off of Tweek. "Oh, by the way, Craig's not coming to school today." 

Tweek was surprised. Craig was not a sickly kid so something might have happened. He quickly searched his bag for his phone and saw two missed calls and a text message. There was no time left to reply as they saw Mr. Garrison already entering the classroom. They all quickly went inside the classroom, afraid that they might be marked late.

Come lunch break, Tweek had completely forgotten to bring his phone. He was already lining up for lunch and the queue was too long for him to actually run back to get his phone from his bag. He decides to reply later after school.

"Worried about something?" He heard a quite familiar voice behind him say.

He turned around to check and it was Kenny... again. "I just left my phone. I forgot to check something." 

"It can't be more important than food, right?" Kenny smirked then left a few pats on the other boy's shoulder.

Tweek tried his best to quickly finish his meal so he can finally reply to the text but he couldn't leave the table since Clyde kept on talking about something that he could barely even understand. 

 

\-----

The calls and text message he failed to reply to came in while he was fixing his locker as seen on the details of the message and the call logs. There were two other calls during lunch break too. Finally, after the seemingly longest day of his life, he gets to check the text message. It was just a simple  **"I'll skip school today. Not feeling well."**

He finally replies. 

**> >What happened?**

He got a reply in just a few seconds. **Your reply took a while. Busy? <<**

**> >Not really but things just keep coming up and I couldn't reply. How're you feeling now?**

**I'm fine but I'm afraid I might not make it later but I'll try my best. <<**

**> >That's fine. Hope you feel better soon!**

The exchanging of text messages never changed from the time they pretended to be boyfriends up to this day. There were times that Craig would end up calling when Tweek does not respond right away. It was something the blonde was used to so he didn't question the multiple calls and texts.

Tweek was fine with Craig not being able to go. Rest was more important. As he was about to send another reply to Craig someone called out to him.

"Tweak!" 

Approaching his side was Kenny. His hood was off and his face was exposed. His blonde hair was a bit messy and his blue eyes were well, beautiful. He had seen Kenny for the third time today but this time was kind of new to him. Tweek blushed a little. "H-hey."

"Aw. You're blushing." Kenny chuckled then pat Tweek on the head like Craig usually does. Tweek felt weird about it. He couldn't figure out whether he liked it or disliked it but regardless, he just let Kenny do it anyway. 

"S-sorry. I got surprised. I’m not used to seeing you without the hood on.” The other blonde answered shyly. 

"Seeing you blushed, I must be good-looking, right?" Kenny joked. It was sort of a rhetorical question. There wasn't a need to answer it but Tweek was just too polite, letting out a "Yes!"  because he did think Kenny looked good and he didn't want Kenny to feel bad if he didn't answer.

Kenny just laughed. "God. They are right. You are cute." 

Kenny took the other boy's hand. Tweek gazed at him with a puzzled look plastered on his face. He opened his mouth but no words came out. The confusion was from the fact that he doesn't remember Kenny ever talking to him and if he ever he did, that would probably be because Stan or Kyle was with him. The sudden shower of attention was just foreign to him. Though it wasn't taken as a bad thing, he still couldn't help but be bothered by certain why's. After all, for the whole day, Kenny seemed to be appearing wherever he went.

Tweek's gaze moved from Kenny's face to their hands. He suddenly remembered that Craig might possibly be dating Kenny. Right at that moment, he quickly pulled his hand away. "K-Kenny! What is it?" 

"Oh come on. Don't be nervous. I just wanted to go home with you." 

 _He wants to go home with me? But why,_ He thought. He was thinking twice if he could ask Kenny this. His hand started trembling a little. He had great fear that he might offend Kenny if he kept asking or probably piss him off if he does not reply. He looked at the floor seemingly trying to search for the words to say. The worry of losing a potential friend just because of his dumb questions started to grow in his head.

"Calm down, Tweak. Are you wondering why?" Good thing Kenny was able to pull the words right out of Tweek’s head. The other boy nodded in response. 

"Well, I want to get to know you better. If you want, I'll answer another impending "Why" you have in your head now so you don't have to panic about it." Kenny smiled. This kid was surely some kind of a mind-reader.

There was a pause after this. Neither of them spoke. Kenny kind of looked like he is hesitating to say something and it Tweek just waited for whatever it was that Kenny wanted to say. 

 "It's because I'm interested in you." 

Tweek's eyes grew wide. Sure, it was flattering, but why him? He had another lingering question in mind but he wasn't quite sure how to ask it. For every line that Kenny had spoken, he ends up at a loss for words.  

"Do you have another 'Why' in mind? Just relax, Tweak. I am just really interested in you. You've changed a lot and I have to admit, you're really cute. It's a surprise that I didn't get to notice that earlier." 

This explanation just raised a lot more of the Why's in Tweek's head. The problem was, he never gained enough courage to speak. Kenny seemed harmless. He just gave out a simple. "I see." That reply was definitely not good reply and he had an angry voice in his mind calling him dumb for a moment.

Kenny looked accepting of this reply. "Okay, you're going to let me accompany you home?" 

"Y-yes." Automatically, Tweek let out a shy response. 

Kenny smiled at him. Like a replay of what had happened earlier, he grabbed Tweek's hand and held on it tight. "Let's go then." 

Tweek stared at their hands. He remembered how Craig used to do that when they were pretending to be lovers. It gave him the same feeling. The tightness of Kenny's grip, the warmth that his hand gave his made him feel secure. His eyes wandered up to Kenny's back then he shook his head when he remembered that this guy might be dating Craig as Clyde puts it. He got bothered by his thoughts so bad that he accidentally said "Gah!" out loud.

Their eyes met when Kenny stopped walking to look at him. "What's the matter?"

"W-why me? What about C..Cr.." He just couldn't say it. His restless movements also gave out that he felt uneasy. 

"Craig? Are you worried about Craig?" Kenny smirked. He turned to look at Tweek then leaned in to whisper on Tweek's ear. "I'm not with Craig and I want you." 

His heartbeat thudded faster when Kenny moved back to stare at him. His gaze deemed honesty,as Tweek sees it. Tweek couldn't understand but the questions he had in mind weren't exactly about him being concerned about Craig's relationship with Kenny, the questions leaned more to the sincerity of what Kenny said. He felt selfish somehow and very confused. It almost felt like he enjoyed the attention Kenny gave him. He enjoyed it  **too much.** He felt his cheeks burning. It was a very unfamiliar situation. What Kenny had said surely brought in euphoria within him. Somebody was actually interested in him for real this time.

"I want you, Tweak." He repeated before he turned around and started walking. Tweek did not say a word and just walked along. His slated eyes just eyed Kenny's back.He felt too absorbed in the thoughts of someone wanting him. 

Kenny felt Tweek's hand trembling but he refused to break the silence to comfort the other boy. By the time they reached the end of the street, he stopped walking. Tweek stopped as well and patiently waited for the other to free his hand. The destination was already reached and Kenny had to go the other way. 

After a pause, Tweek felt Kenny's fingers entwine with his. His gaze quickly moved from their hands then back to Kenny. "Wha--?"

"Tweek, can I go to your house?" In Kenny's mind, he had already dropped the last name calling and started calling him by name like there was even an actual difference.

"H-huh?" Considering that there was no one else who invited him to go anywhere and the fact that Craig could not make it, he is actually free. He did not have anything planned for this afternoon. For some reason, it was like the universe had arranged for this to happen. There was a strong call in his head telling him to say yes but there was still a part of him telling him to decline.  

"Well?" 

Decline? But that was something that Tweek wasn't good at. His mind was also clouded by the flattery that Kenny liked him. He turned his head to the side, eyes fixed on the road. "Y-yes."  

 _Wow. That's it?_  Kenny thought. That was the convenient reply that Kenny had been waiting for. Never did he think that Tweek would give in so easily to his requests. In his mind, the consent of accompanying Tweek home never would have been approved in the first place. It was simply because he was sure that Tweek knew there was really something going on between him and  Craig. But that was it, an invitation was given to the other blonde's house, specifically, his room. 

As for Tweek, he never considered Kenny as a bad person. There were countless times he got to hangout with with him. Even though he never once talked to him during those times, Kenny seemed to be nice as he was really close to his friends. Bad rumors circulate around school about Kenny hitting on a lot people from school. But alas, Tweek have never heard of such things. He was never interested in rumors or anything about people's private lives to begin with so Kenny was pure in his eyes. But the whole "Kenny is nice" thing was not enough to stop Tweek from panicking about things that are probably irrelevant. For one, he was worried about his room being too messy. 

"Tweek, you're shaking terribly."

"I-I'm sorry. Must be the coffee earlier." Tweek smiled a little but just couldn't maintain eye-contact. It was a lie, of course. The trembling was definitely because of him inviting Kenny to his probably very messy room.

"Well, I know something that might help." Kenny being the trigger of the anxiety attack rightfully is expected to offer help. With that, he started searching his bag. Being the mess that his bag is on the inside, it was kind of difficult to look for whatever it was he was searching for. 

Tweek couldn't decline but this time he had a reason to. He refused the offer before the other boy could even show anything. "It's fine, Kenny. I have my medicine at home." 

"No. This is more effective. Wait just a second." Kenny rummaged his bag some more then stopped to reveal a white bottle in his hand. "This one works faster and longer too." He popped the bottle open and dropped a pill on his hand, offering it to Tweek, 

If Kenny already had it on his hand, there was no other choice but to take it. Tweek didn't want to be rude so he took it on his own hand and stared at the pink pill. It was an unfamiliar one. The one he takes was white in color. Doubt sparked a little in his head cause he did not want to be taking another medication as it might cause side-effects of some sort. 

Seeing Tweek's reaction, Kenny spoke up. "Oh. Do you need water?" Kenny offered his water bottle. "Here."

With the thought that it was just one pill and the concern he had seen in Kenny's eyes, Tweek just went ahead and popped the pill in his mouth, then had an adequate sip of water from Kenny's water bottle. "T-thanks, Kenny." 

"No prob." Kenny placed his things back in his bag with his free hand then he looked up Tweek who was staring at him and seemed to look happy.

The smiles were brought forth by the fact that Tweek was convinced that Kenny sincerely cared about him. From stranger, Kenny leaped to a friend in an instant.  Automatically, trust was given to him too.  Tweek really just easily appreciates people's efforts and concern towards him. Oddly. his mind started comparing Kenny to Craig, as both seemed to give him feelings of happiness and security. There was really something about Kenny's actions that kept on reminding him about Craig. It was weird but he just couldn't escape this thought.

Tweek led the way to his house with his hand still held by Kenny. While Kenny, on the other hand, just had a grin on his face as they walked. 

"We're here!" Tweek finally announced after a walk of five minutes. "Wait, I'll just tell my mom that you're here." He got the key from his bag, unlocked the door and ran inside. Voices were heard from outside coupled with some TV noises, then followed by running sounds.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Tweak appeared to greet Kenny. Tweek ran out to introduce Kenny to his mom. He tried to inhale some air first then let out the air for a bit as he got a bit exhausted from all the running he did. Then he managed to speak."Mom, this is Kenny, my classmate from school. He's going to help me with homework."

Kenny shot Tweek a glare.  _Why is everyone making me a tutor of some sort. God, does it even look like I'll ever help anyone with homework._ Kenny remembers that Craig would always tell his mom that he was there to help out on a project or homework too. It kind of annoyed him so he didn't say anything.

"Right?!" Tweek snapped and his face clearly shown that he had to ride on with this excuse or he's not going to get in the house. 

"Uh yeah.. That homework." Kenny looked at the trees near the house. That was the most unconvincing reply ever but Tweek's mom didn't seem to mind.

"Hello, Kenny. I see Tweek made a new friend." Mrs Tweak gave Tweek a pat on the shoulder.

Kenny looked at Tweek's mother who had her arms over Tweek's shoulder then later on, looked away. He didn't have a reply since he did not enjoy talking to adults, most specially parents. 

 "Okay, Kenny. You may come in but don't stay too late. Your parents might worry about you." Mrs. Tweak greeted the kid before her with a smile, 

 _Hah. My parents don't care about me. Not that it actually matters_. Kenny smiled back almost too fakely and replied with a "Yes, mam. Until 7pm only." 

 

\---

Well-organized shelves, newly changed blue bedsheets and clean desks greeted Kenny. He expected the room to be a mess. He remembers how Craig described Tweek's room and it was definitely one of the good descriptions he's heard of. Heck, Tweek can't even get his buttons of his shirt placed on the right spot so how could he possibly have an organized room. But he did change. Today, his shirt was buttoned up correctly and even his room was neat as well. "Nice room."

What Kenny didn't notice was that Tweek was also surprised that the room is clean. "T-thanks. What do you want to do?" Tweek started checking his shelf for games that Kenny might like. He couldn't tell if Kenny actually plays anything because every time they had game nights at Clyde's Kenny doesn't play. He was just like him, watching others play. He manages to pick a game and when he was about to show it to Kenny, 

"Well, maybe we can just watch TV." Kenny shrugged, 

"Really? You don't want to play?" He instantly places the game back inside the box. 

"I don't want you to lose if we choose a fighting game." Kenny teased him as if they had been friends for a long time. He did want Tweek to feel comfortable with him. He eyed the other boy to check his reaction.

"Heyyy!" Tweek pouted then stood up to face Kenny. "I can beat you!"

"Oooh reeeally. Beating Cartman on Tekken does not count as a win, you know!" Kenny said with a wide grin on his face.

"Well, that's true but still!" Tweek stuck out his tongue at Kenny like a 5 year old.

Kenny smiled at him. "Cute."

Tweek's cheeks flushed red. "Stop s-saying that!"

"Well, you are." He shrugged. "Let's watch TV." He comfortably sat on the couch and tapped on his side, signalling Tweek to sit beside him. That, Tweek actually did. He turned the TV on. Kenny watched the other blonde. Tweek was too welcoming towards him. 

"I-D don't really know what to watch. I rarely watch TV!" He felt tense beside Kenny.

"Any channel would do." Kenny simply stated. 

Tweek continued to switch channels nervously. It was quite obvious that he was unsure of what to do from all the shaking his hand did as he scanned for shows. Kenny grabbed the remote. "That one's fine." 

It stopped at Animal Planet. Tweek looked at the TV then at Kenny. "I.. didn't know you were interested in animals!"  

Actually, Kenny did not really give a fuck about what channel Tweek chose. He does not enjoy watching TV. It was just a lucky pick since Tweek seemed to be the one who liked animals. It was a good way to actually start a conversation at least. Kenny slouched and had his arm around Tweek. Tweek didn't react because he was focused on the show. The TV showed a capybara. 

"Wow. That rodent is huge. I want that inside my house." Kenny stated but the way he said it didn't sound like he wanted any animal in general.

Tweek failed to notice this though. "Really! But that's scary. It's too big! What if it--"

"Eats me?" 

Tweek laughed. "Yeah!" 

"Haha. Of course, it would!" Kenny's face turned to Tweek, whose face was just almost too close to his. He saw Tweek's terrified face like he actually believed that the Capybara would eat him so Kenny decides to continue with, "Nah. I don't think they're carnivorous." Kenny laughed and used the same hand that he had on Tweek's shoulder to ruffle up Tweek's hair. 

"Science! I didn't know you listened in class!" Tweek looked at Kenny, giggling a bit.

"Of course, I do! I just don't react to everything the teacher says like Cartman." Kenny looked back at TV.

The scene on TV transitions to another animal. It was a guinea pig being held by a girl. It had dark brown color. This had Tweek clapping excitedly. "Oh look! That's a guinea pig! It's like Craig's!" 

"Yeah. The color is different though." Kenny subconsciously stated.

"You mean, you've seen Stripe?" Tweek looked at the other boy with his eyes all sparkly. 

Kenny smirked as if he was boasting about it. "Yeah. Lots of times. I go home together with Craig, right? I got to enter his room a couple of times.” He even called Craig by name. He never does that ever. It had always been "Tucker" but if he had to make it seem like he is close to Craig, he has to go by first name.

"Really! We never see each other there. I visit him too at times." Tweek excitedly. "Maybe we can all go there together next time! Then we can play with Stripe! He's cute." Tweek started saying a lot of things that Kenny failed to hear anymore. All he saw was the innocence that Tweek showed. It kind of annoyed him. He was expecting Tweek to be shocked or to be hit by jealousy but he is not seeing this.

 _He should be jealous that I can freely visit Craig whenever I want. But why is he excited instead,_ he thought. He became persistent to get a reaction from Tweek. The main purpose was to get the other blonde to admit that he likes Craig cause he was sure as hell that Tweek was still into Craig. They might have broken up but they still remained close, too close. For Kenny, exes aren't meant to be close after a break-up unless something was going on. 

"When you visit Craig, what do you guys do?" That marked the start of his questioning. Tweek never reacted to anything he has done so far so maybe Tweek wouldn't react badly to his new set of questions. He leaned closer to the other boy, his eyes fixed on Tweek's face as he tried to observe his reactions once more.

"Hm.." Tweek started thinking. "We do homework!"

"What? That's boring." That obviously wasn't what he was expecting but he knew there had to be more and Tweek will spill it out eventually.

"Well, we play video games at times too. There was even one time he beat me seven times in a row on----" 

Kenny felt impatient. He didn't really want to hear about how nice Craig is to Tweek nor does he want to know about how much fun they had when they hang out. Tweek got cut off by Kenny's question. "Do you like Craig Tucker?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tweek looked at him confusedly. Of course, he likes Craig. Craig was very nice to him. Kenny didn't repeat the question but instead waited for an answer. 

"Of course, I do! He's nice to m--"

He got cut off once more by Kenny. "Not that way. More than a friend?" 

A couple of blinks were seen on Tweek’s face. Kenny's questions made him sound like he was a rival. Tweek, on the other hand, pretty much saw Kenny and Craig as his friends so his answers were based on this fact. He simply thought that there question was pure curiosity and nothing more. That was the problem though, cause Kenny is not getting the answer he wanted and at the same time, hated to hear.

"Craig does not want me telling this to anyone but, you guys are close too so I guess it's fine." Tweek stopped for a bit, took a deep breath then continued, "We just pretended to date before. But eventually, people got over it anyway."

 _They were pretending?! They didn't look like they were._ Kenny was doubting the answer that Tweek made but he just couldn't react too intensely as it might be taken negatively by Tweek,"I don't think you were pretending. I mean, you guys seemed really close."

"But we were!" 

And Kenny asked the question he regretted asking since he was really curious about what he discovered. "So you guys don't kiss or like do things?" 

"Huh? No! We only pretended to be together and that's it. Then when people got over the issue, he just told me that we should just go back to being friends. It was fine with me since he was still very nice to me even after the break-up thing." Tweek spoke as if he was reminiscing a good memory. 

Kenny was now extremely intrigued. He didn't know the two pretended to be together. He was so sure that it was real. Craig's feelings seemed true and he even went soft because of Tweek's influence on him. It had to be real, it seemed very real. He couldn’t stand the thought that maybe Tweek was not into Craig. Hearing that Craig was the one who broke up with Tweek was also too weird for him to understand and take in. Tweek agreeing to just be friends was another thing to be perplexed about.  But he wanted to be sure he made no mistake. “When you say 'he was nice to you', what do you mean?"

"Like you.. He was like you. You're very nice to me." Tweek looked at him and smiled. 

_Like me? But I was flirting with him.. Was Craig calling him cute too or--_

"Except the cute part. Craig does not tell me those things. He's just helping me out with school and stuff." Tweek apparently could also do mind-reading. He managed to clear things out before Kenny could even ask them. “And we also get to play games and hang out with Clyde and Token! It’s fun and—“

"So you don't like him that way?" The curiosity that filled Kenny's eyes were very evident. But Tweek kept on missing this detail. He just answered whatever Kenny asked with no hesitation or doubt.

"Hm.. I don't think that's the case. He is fun to be with. I feel happy around him. Just like how I feel right now that you're hanging out with me. Being a spaz that I am, I didn't think I'd ever have friends but you guys are here for me." Tweek's answer was full of emotion. He looked happy too. He seemed very thankful that someone wanted to be his friend. This got Kenny shot with guilt. Whatever it was that he had planned is going to end up a mistake.

Noticing that Kenny fell silent, Tweek spoke once more. "Sorry about that, Kenny. I was being too dramatic! Haha. Let's just watch TV."

Kenny decided not to speak or ask any further. They silently watched TV. Kenny moved his hands off of Tweek's shoulder, pretending he had to scratch his arm. Tweek just had his eyes glued to the TV. Whatever was showing there, was not absorbed by any of the two. There was almost twenty minutes of silence. Kenny bit his lip as he searched for words to say. That was until he felt very light tugs on his sleeve. He looked over to Tweek who leaned on the couch with his eyes closed. His cheeks burned bright red, his breathing was gradually becoming heavier and he continued tugging on Kenny's shirt weakly.

"K-Kenny, I f-feel o-ddd..." Sweat was forming on the sides of his face. His lips were parted as he tried to breathe through his mouth.

What else was there to blame but the drug he was given. After minutes of watching senseless shit on TV, the drug finally worked. Kenny didn't seem to be happy about it working, he felt terribly guilty because of his presumption. Kenny took Tweek's right hand and held it on his own. "It's going to be fine. Maybe you need to rest."

"I c-can't.. H-help me, K-Kenny. I-it's weird." Tweek's left hand snaked down to his own crotch. He started touching himself impulsively. Light whimpers were heard. 

Kenny covered Tweek's mouth with his hand. "Tweek, someone might hear you."

He was unsure what to do now. He wished he never asked about anything regarding Craig so he could freely do what he wanted with the guilt coming later on. But it was too late to take it back, he already made the other boy drink the aphrodisiac, a strong one too. The only thing he could do at the very least is help Tweek.

After a few times of hesitation, he laid Tweek down the couch then knelt, positioning his legs on Tweek's sides as he began unbuttoning the dark green polo shirt. As the buttons were released one by one, the pale skin marked with big bruises were revealed before Kenny's eyes. Shocked, he touched them lightly with his fingers, carefully examining them. As his fingers ran through the marks, Tweek groaned a little. This just showered Kenny with extra guilt. Tweek was going through something that was very well-masked by all his smiles and laughter at school. The boy he intended to destroy was suffering just like him.

"H-help m-me, Ken..ny.." 

He clenched his fists. Sure, he was an asshole but he wasn't  **that**  horrible. The guilt it brought was just too much for Kenny to handle. There was regret but at the same time, pity. He pitied Tweek somehow. Finally, after hesitating through all the soft moans Tweek had let out, he finally decides to touch Tweek.

He brushed on Tweek's golden bangs, removing them off his face. Then he stroked Tweek's light pink cheek with his fingers. "Don't worry, Tweek. It will be over soon." 

He leaned over and started trailing kisses from the boy's neck to his jaw, he started at Tweek's parted lips. For a moment he thought of kissing him but it just felt so wrong so he avoided that spot. He just had Tweek's pants unzipped. His hand  slipped past Tweek's pants and underwear, grabbing his length. A weak moan escaped Tweek's lips. This signaled Kenny to continue. He gently moved his hand up to the tip of Tweek's hardened length then down repeatedly, speed gradually increasing as he went on. He buried his face beside Tweek's. He didn't want to see how the other boy reacted to his touches, he just listened to the boy’s soft moans and pants. Upon increasing the movement speed, he suddenly felt warm liquid touch his cheeks. It was probably the other boy's sweat but he lifted his head up to check anyway. 

Tweek was crying. His whimpers of pleasure started to change into cries of despair. "N-no.. please don't. P-please.. s-stop." 

Thinking it was his fault, Kenny immediately stopped and tried to fix the other boy's pants a bit. He shook the other boy. "Tweek! It's fine, I stopped now." 

Tweek continued to wince and tears didn't stop rolling down his cheeks. He had his eyes half-open but these eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. "P-please.. don't d-do this to me a-anymore.." 

Kenny held Tweek’s shoulders and started shaking him in horror. "Tweek! It's fine now! I'll stop!" He made sure his voice was soft so people from downstairs won't hear him. He continued to shake the other boy but seemed that the boy was spacing out. 

"P-please..I'm begging all of y-you.." 

 _All of you?_ _Now that came out of nowhere._  Kenny was now sure it wasn't him that was causing this. Tweek was probably being haunted by something else. Whatever it is, it's probably  a horrible memory. 

A knock was heard from the door and somebody instantly came in. Kenny quickly moved off of Tweek and sat on the side.  His speed was of course, not enough to make it look like he was just watching TV beside Tweek. Whoever it was that came in surely saw what was happening. He nervously look back to check who it was. In shock, he recognizes the figure that stood behind them. It was Craig.

Craig closed the door and immediately ran to Kenny grabbing him by the collar. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Craig tried his best to make his voice low enough but the tone of anger was extremely recognizable. 

"Please.. everyone..d-don't.. do this to m-me.." Craig's vision went over Kenny's shoulder. He froze upon seeing Tweek's body. He let Kenny go instantly and approached Tweek. He knelt down slowly beside the couch, eyes scanned Tweek from his tear-stained face down to his bruised body. "Did you do this?" His voice was now of a softer tone from the shock of seeing Tweek’s condition.

No answer was heard. Kenny was just as stunned as he was. 

"Did you do this?!" Craig angrily said with his gaze still locked at Tweek’s abused body. 

"I didn't. I was just as shocked as you are." His voice sounded of defeat and absolute guilt. 

"P-please.. L-leave me alone.." Tweek continued to plead. 

Craig lifted Tweek up and embraced him tightly. His other hand ran through his hair. His voice was calm as his cradled Tweek in his arms. "Sh. It's going to be okay, Tweek. I'm here now. Happy thoughts?" Tweek's body does not respond but his sobbing was reduced to a persistent weep. 

Kenny's guilt was instantly replaced with extreme jealousy as he watched Craig comfort Tweek. He just couldn't take the fact that Craig gives Tweek that much attention and concern. Tweek had become too important to Craig and even if Tweek did not feel the same. Tweek still remains to be the only one that Craig cared about. No matter how much pity he had for Tweek, he still somehow resented him. 

"Look, if someone comes in, we're screwed. Obviously, someone's been harassing him in this house since these bruises are fresh." Craig buttoned up the shirt and fixed up the pants that Tweek had on. He lifted the crying boy from the couch then laid him gently on the bed. He wished he could treat the bruises but of course, they didn't have time for that. 

"Hn." Kenny looked away. "Let's pretend we fell asleep then." 

"Don't think you're off the hook, Mccormick. You still have some explaining to do.” Craig shot Kenny a glare.

"Yeah." Kenny just stared at the floor. He was still uncontrollably jealous of what he had seen. All of his anger was fixed on Tweek. 

When Tweek's mom did check on them, the three were fast asleep, or at least Tweek genuinely was. Craig on the couch, Tweek on the bed and Kenny by the chair near the desk. Mrs. Tweak woke the two up, telling them that it was time to go home. Craig was scared to leave Tweek alone but he couldn't really stay since he forgot to tell his mom that he was sleeping over at Tweek’s. “Now children. It’s time to go home.”

"We'll go now, mam. Don't wake him up anymore. It's fine." Craig managed to explain with a smile on his face. This kind of made Kenny dislike Tweek a percentage more than he already does cause he made Craig like this and somehow he seemed like a different person, The jealousy just kept growing and it was fueled by the fact that he was not the one who changed Craig.

Kenny finally snaps back to reality and carried on with the lines they agreed on saying. "Yeah, we had lots of homework completed, he probably got too tired." Kenny waved a folder with papers fastened inside with a smile, trying his hardest to sound convincing.

 

\---

As the two walked together meters away from the Tweaks' residence, the atmosphere was really heavy. These two were awfully quiet people so silence shouldn't be quite of a big deal but the scene could be described as very awkward and somewhat bitter. Kenny started walking paces faster than the other boy as if trying to avoid the impending conversation.

Craig walked just as fast and grabbed Kenny by the arm. He finally had the guts to start questioning him. "Why were you there?" His tone was very unfriendly and it sounded like an answer was definitely required.

Kenny didn't want to be honest at all. He just tried to lie his way out of what happened, "I just saw him going home on his own so I accompanied him."

"Bullshit. Why would you even do that?" The taller boy clenched his jaws as his grip grew tighter.

Kenny shoved Craig's hand of. "Why won't I do that?" 

"Stop it with the fucking bullcrap and start telling me what REALLY happened." Craig had his fist shaking with anger.

After seeing Craig getting so enraged, it gave him the urge to just stop stalling and admit what he did. Somehow a burning curiosity just popped out of his head and wanted to see how Craig would react. "I tried to hit on him." 

"The fuck!" Craig snapped and found his hands on Kenny's collar once more. "Why the hell would you do that shit?!"

Kenny forcibly removed Craig's hands off his collar. "Why are you so angry about it anyway?! It's not like you're together!" Kenny stared at him in the eyes with the same amount of anger the other had. "You were just pretending to be lovers, why are you all possessive and shit now?!"

Craig sure felt those words sting. He was unsure why he felt like protecting Tweek either. He just stood there at a loss of a decent reply. He grunted and let Kenny go then did not say anything.

"You pretended to be his fucking boyfriend, fucking broke up with him to be his friend and now you're all fucking knight in shining armor all of a sudden!" Kenny continued to stare at Craig as he went on saying harsh things.

Craig got annoyed that he was the one who was being put on the spot instead of him getting the details he wanted. "I think more than me answering that, it is YOU who needs to do more of the answering." 

As if ignoring what Craig said, Kenny said in a hurt tone, "Are you in love with him or something?!" 

Craig was taken aback by these words. Tweek was his friend. Whatever they had before was only for show. He has never thought this over. Whatever feelings that could destroy the friendship he had with Tweek were all brushed off. Whenever he looked at Tweek’s beautiful face, he would always feel funny in his stomach and his heartbeat doubled in speed. It was a special feeling but he needed to keep it to himself. The break-up served as a test if Tweek felt the same for him and seeing him agreeing to just being friends did hurt a lot. It hurt but at the same time, it was fine to be a friend as long as he could protect Tweek. 

Being cornered with this question and it was really obvious that he cared so much for Tweek. He knew whatever answer he gave would be deemed senseless. He tried his best to avoid it still. "You're the one who did something here and now you have the nerve to start questioning me instead For Christ's sake, Mccormick!"

"Oh so you aren't going to answer?" Kenny's eyes reflected of strong annoyance. He knew what the answer was. He was afraid of it but he needed confirmation. 

In a defeated tone, Craig just decides to admit. "I do. I love Tweek." He swallows hard and starts yelling at the other boy. "What now?! Does that even matter?! You did something to him and you can't fucking explain to me what it was and now I'm the one being asked all the shitass questions. Just unfuckingbelievable. Fuck."  

A pause. A brief pause that ended with a sound of sarcastic laughter. "Craig Tucker's in love. Wow. Just wow." Kenny tried to walk off. He was hurt but he does not intent to shed tear or he just did not want Craig to see it. He wanted to be the braver one. 

Craig grabbed him by the arm again. "Yeah I am and don't you dare do that walk out shit on me, Mccormick."

"Why does that matter? Just fucking ask your boyfriend about it." Kenny angrily replied. 

"Why are you being so fucking difficult?! God!"

"Are you really that damn insensitive or you're just plain fucking stupid?!" Kenny pulled his arm off Craig's grasp. "Fuck you!" He ran off making sure Craig won't be able to stop him this time.

It was going to be a sleepless night for Craig as he never got the answers he wanted but he was also worried about how Kenny reacted. He felt horrible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After reading a lot of fics, I realized that my way of writing is well.. shit. HAHAHA But yeah, here, have a chapter. 
> 
> I haven't drawn anything new for any of the chapters yet but I will soon! dnjsjfjksd


	4. Remembered but Despised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuses for my typos this time. Probably should re-read it fifty times before posting. 
> 
> But yeah, thanks for taking time to read and comment. 
> 
> Hm.. I probably have 2 to 3 chapters left then this ends. :))

The sound of ringing phone was heard from Tweek's room. He had an eye open to check the time on his digital clock on the side cabinet and yawned. Gradually opening his other eye, he finally discovers that it was already 8:00 AM. He needed to get up and help run the coffee shop. Lazily, he sat up and wiped his eyes a bit. He felt kind of light-headed for some reason as he tried to remember what had happened last night. The last memory he had in mind was watching TV with Kenny. It kind of bothered him that he was not able to at least send his friend home. Unfortunately, he does not have any way of contacting him so his only choice was just to wait for Monday to talk to him.

The blonde slowly makes his way to the bathroom. He decided to wash his face first. The faucet's lever was pulled and cold running water splashed onto his hands. His cupped hands gathered some water and he washed his face with it. As he looked up the mirror, he saw marks on his chest. He was taken back to that Wednesday night memory once again.He held his head in his hands in fear. There was no escaping these horrible flashbacks whenever he sees the marks on his skin.

///Flashback///

The dim of the dreaded Wednesday night came. Tweek shivered in fear as the clicking sound from the wall clock was heard. When the long hand reached the number twelve, he felt like his whole body was trembling. There were soft knocks from the backdoor.

Nervously, the door was opened and that revealed three familiar men, one with a beard and is of taller stature, another one had long dark brown hair and the other one was just ordinary looking and only had a mole on the chin. These three were the usual guys that brought the "package". Up until now, Tweek was very clueless of what the packages were for but he does know that it is a vital ingredient for their coffee, as explained by his father ages ago.

The long haired guy approached Tweek and placed a hand on his shoulder before asking, "Where's mama and papa?"

Their laughs echoed across the house. Traumatizing laughs that haunted Tweek in his sleep were heard once again. These men knew no one was in, so they were absolutely far from being silent.

"Th-they are-aren't h-here. T-they t-told me to gg-et the p...package.." Tweek just eyed the floor and wished that this night would be different from the others. There was a small hope they would just give the package and leave.

"Get inside." The bearded man with a bonnet ordered. "You're getting no package yet. We need to have fun first!"

"P..pl...pl..please." Tweek's voice cracked, the tears that welled his eyes finally trickled down his cheeks. He has experienced this for months and yet he has not learned that crying never worked on these people. It just made them even more aggressive.

"Shut up and go inside!" The same man kicked him at the back causing him to drop on the floor. He got grabbed by the arm to get him to stand back up. "To your room."

The long haired guy stayed behind Tweek and kept on pushing him as they went up the stairs. As all three entered with him in his room, the sound of the lock was heard. The bearded guy locked the door, an unpleasant grin was seen on his face. There was no escape this time. He remembers last week when he felt brave enough. He tried to just grab the package and lock these men out. Of course, he wasn't strong enough to push the door who had three of the men pushing on the other side. The attempt was a failure. It just got them furious and he got beat up twice more than he should have been, or at least that's what they said while beating him up. So, probably, the reason why he was brought up to his room is so he wouldn't do anything silly such as escaping anymore.

The bearded guy from behind the two other men moved forward revealing himself with a baseball bat. Tweek knew he was going to get hit badly again. Every Wednesday they brought a new object to hurt him with. But the things they bring are not sharp objects. These guys were careful when beating him up. They don't hit Tweek's face or cut his flesh. They just harass him mostly by hitting him several times or burning his skin a little. But even if he didn't get his skin cut ot his face bruised, the torture was still bad. The fear in him started to grow but he needed to be brave. No one was there to help him. He bit his lip to control his sobbing. He slowly stood up and waited for their orders. If it had to happen, then might as well get it over with, was the only thing he couldn't think of for comfort.

"Stand straight over there and lean on the wall." The man pointed the bat to the wall, the one near the bed.

Shaking, he slowly walked towards the wall, he stood and leaned there in compliance. His eyes were focused on the floor and his tears uncontrollably ran down is cheeks. He was weak and he knew he could not do anything but obey. His body started trembling in fear no matter how much he tried to be brave enough to face what was about to happen.

"STAND UP STRAIGHT, YOU SPAZ!" The one with long hair grabbed the bat from the bearded guy and hit Tweek's thigh with it hard. Tweek curled up a bit, writhing in pain, more tears falling off his eyes. After struggling to stand back up, he tried his best to regain his posture and leaned against the wall.

"Okay! So I will do the explaining!" An excited tone was evident from the long haired guy's statement. "Today's game iiiiis....DINGDONG! Baseball! Simple, right? I have the balls with me," The long-haired man walked up to Tweek and pointed to his chest. "The target is here."

"Jesus Christ, Alex! What if we hit his face. His parents might cancel on us!" The ordinary looking guy panicked.

"The fuck, only idiots miss the target! Maybe you're too much of an idiot then!" He challenged the other two with a smirk on his face, pointing the bat to their direction. "So who wants to go first? You, Todd?" He then points to the guy with the mole then to the bearded guy. "Or Bryan?"

"You fucker! I'll show you! I played baseball before!" The guy named Todd went ahead, grabbed the bat then picked up a ball from the bag they carried. He threw the ball up and swung the bat. The ball got hit and bounced over to the left side of Tweek's chest. Tweek dropped on the floor and clasped on his chest and let out a loud cry. He curled down the floor in pain, coughing up a little.

"You little fucker better stay still." The guy named Alex grabbed him be the arm and forced him to lean on the wall. Tweek couldn't stand up straight since the first hit hurt a lot. Todd attempted to do the same move again but he ended up hitting the wall instead. It pissed him off that he went for another shot which was careless to hit the wall again.

"You suck! The target is in the middle, genius! My turn!" It was the turn of the guy named, Alex. He made baseball stances confidently. The other two men laughed at this. He would taunt Tweek by throwing the ball and not actually hitting it. The two other men couldn't contain their chortling as they looked at Tweek who would get his eyes closed tightly whenever the ball was tossed. All the posing, fake throwing, and laughter caused so much delay and more horror for Tweek to endure.

Finally, the bat was swung once more hitting the ball and it bounces directly on Tweek's stomach. Tweek coughed a bit and crouched down in pain. The long haired got annoyed and swung another ball that hit Tweek once more on the stomach. A bit of blood dripped from Tweek's lips. Then grabbed another ball but this time, it missed and hit the wall instead.

"You idiot! What if you accidentally hit his face!" The guy named Todd sounded like he was worried. Well, if he was, it was surely not for Tweek.

"I won't! I'm professional." He hit another ball, making it bounce over to Tweek's chest.

The torture went on until Tweek got hit by approximately fourteen to fifteen balls on his chest, stomach and thighs, and if some balls had not missed, he probably got hit more. The three eventually got exhausted from picking up the balls and hitting them over and over so they decided to stop at fifteen hits. While, they celebrated over the declaration of the winner for this night's game, Tweek was left there struggling to stand, leaning weakly against the wall.

Tweek had a chance to rest finally. He just waited for them to hand out the package and leave. But relief changed to terror as another order was given. "Strip."

Tweek froze in fear and hope that he misheard what the man before him said. But the man named Alex just repeated what he said in a more angry pitch. "I SAID, STRIP!"

Terrified, Tweek knelt before them. "P..Pl..please.. do..don't. J-just hit m-me some more i-instead."

They all laugh in unison. The bearded guy grabbed Tweek's chin. "But that's boring. Don't you want to try something new?"

"Yeah. Just do as he says and strip." One agreed as he gave Tweek's cheeks a lick. For a moment, Tweek's world just stopped. He wiped his face in disgust and stared blankly at them. Certainly, he was not immune to the physical pain he received but he preferred that over this nightmare. He couldn't move, his hands were shaking terribly. Not even his medication can help him cope with this ordeal.

"You fucker! I'll do it for you!" Alex grabbed Tweek's arms and pinned them over his head against the wall. He then forcibly pulled the young boy's shirt up to remove it.

"N-no! P-please!" Tweek's voice cracked as he struggled and continued to beg.

The bearded guy, Bryan, leaned over to smell Tweek's neck. "You always smell good. We should've done this even before! This night is going to be great!"

Tweek continued to cry and hoped that he would just pass out. But the universe just did not side on him, he never did pass out. He was going to see and worse, feel everything. "P..please..no.."

When his chest exposed the bruises, Todd pressed hard onto them which caused Tweek cry some more. "I'll seriously punch you, if you don't shut up, kid."

No matter how hard it was to move, he continued to resist. Overpowered, he ended up stripped off his pants and underwear.

"Now be a good kid and bend over." It sounded more of a kind request than an order.

This was something Tweek couldn't obey. He curled up and hugged his legs as he cried.

"'Why you disobedient little punk!" Tweek was grabbed by the waist and made to lie down the floor. His hands were held at his back so he couldn't move.

"I get to go first to, right?! I'm the winner!" The long haired guy quickly unbuckled his belt excitedly then unzipped his pants. He had the most disturbing look on his face as he flicked his tongue out and licked Tweek's neck as he let out his hardened shaft.

Tweek rested his head on the cold floor in defeat. His eyes were closed tightly and yet his tears continued to fall. He felt so disgusted with himself as the first guy started thrusting inside him. He hated every moment of that night. The men would laugh and say things that he failed to hear anymore. The pounding of his heart was very fast. He wished he was brave and strong enough. This could've been avoided if he wasn't this weak. It was a moment in his life that he actually wished that these three would just kill him instead.

 

///End///

He finally snaps back to reality, staring at his reflection on the mirror in tears. Those memories just won’t leave him alone but he needed to forget at least for today. He quickly washed his face with running water. He tried his best to think of something else. He clasped on his chest and tried to replace this horrible memory with happy thoughts as always advised by Craig. He proceeded to the shower and had focused enough to have another memory in his head. He had to act fine otherwise, his parents will be worried. The quick shower ended but he couldn't just think straight so he aimed for his blanket of pills. He took one even without a glass of water, relying on his saliva to help him swallow the pill. He went back to his room to check his cabinet for clothes.

Bzzzt.

His phone was vibrating. He turned to his side, grabbed it while drying his hair with the towel. There was a message from Craig.

**Are you okay now? <<**

Okay now? He was confused. Why wouldn't he be okay? He spent time with Kenny and that was it.

>> **What do you mean?**

It took a few minutes before he got a reply from Craig. Craig felt like Tweek probably didn't remember what had happened but he didn't care to explain it through text. He doesn't want Tweek breaking down over it when he isn't beside him.

**Let's meet later at 3PM at the park. <<**

Before he could even reply, he had his mother knocking on the door. It was time for errands already but Tweek managed to reply with an Okay.

He wore whatever it was on top of the folded shirts in the cabinet. It was time to put on his mask once more. He had to act like it was fine. There was absolutely no one who could help him. This time he knew that not even Craig could.

 

\-----

 

Tweek left a few minutes earlier than the meeting time with Craig since he was able to finish all his tasks for today. His father gave him extra cash too. He thought he’d spend it over some snacks. He walked around as he tried to decide what to eat. Just a few steps from his house, he sees Kenny on the other side of the road, walking the opposite direction..

“Kenny!” He called out.

Kenny placed his hood back on and acted as if he didn’t hear anything. He started walking away. This confused Tweek for a bit but that didn’t stop him from running to Kenny. Luckily, the pedestrian light was green. Tweek crossed the street running, He went past the other boy and stopped right in front of him.

“Hey, Kenny!" He repeated. "I was calling you, you know!"

Kenny stopped walking but refused to speak. He did not look at Tweek. The smile on Tweek’s face turned into a frown. “Eh? What's the matter?”

No response.

“You can talk to me.” A very worried expression was seen on Tweek’s face which annoyed Kenny.

“Tweek.” He finally spoke.

“Hm?” Tweek looked at him with confused eyes.

“Are you being clingy because I told you that I was interested in you?” Kenny made sure his tone was harsh.

“H-huh?” Tweek was shocked. For a moment he thought it was a mean thing to say but he shrugged it off. He wanted to think that Kenny was just not in the mood today. “N-no, I just wanted to say hello… and I uh—”

The kindness that Tweek was showing was angering the other boy. He couldn’t stand the smiles, the thoughtfulness—everything! He greatly disliked the fact that Tweek was honestly trying to be his friend. He knew he didn't have the right to be angry because he abused Tweek. Despite that, there was still no way Tweek could be his friend. He was a confirmed rival. Even if Tweek wasn’t attracted to Craig, Craig was attracted to HIM. He was a threat and Kenny didn't want Tweek anywhere near him. “I did say I was interested in you but you know what, my interest changes in days, even hours or seconds so don’t try to be clingy with me.”

Tweek’s eyes widened. He could not believe that this person who tried to be his friend the other day seemed very angry at him right now. “S-sorry. I thought.. I just thought..”

A hurt expression, finally. Kenny wanted Tweek to leave him alone anyway. For some reason, it didn’t feel right but he continued saying harsh things to the other blonde. “You thought I’d hit on you? Is that it? Well, sorry to burst your high and mighty bubble over there but I’m not into you.”

Tweek couldn’t speak at that time. Once again, he hand his hands trembling and the twitching his body made was too obvious to be missed. Kenny couldn't convince himself to continue. He felt bad after seeing the other boy with a hurt expression on his face.

“Okay. Damn. I’m sorry.” Kenny bit his lip. He struggled to stop himself from dropping more harsh comments. “I just don’t know how to face you after what happened last night.”

“Last night?” From hurt, Tweek’s expression went back to being confused. Kenny finally realizes that Tweek does not remember what happened. If Tweek actually did remember, he wouldn't be happily approaching him. It was very odd that Tweek's memory failed. He didn’t know the pill would cause him to forget. The other people he gave the pill to never forgot what happened. His mind argued with himself. A part of him felt that Tweek deserved not to know what happened after watching TV. But part of him strongly wanted to tell the truth to hurt Tweek and mess him up.

“I tried to violate you.” Kenny goes with the second option.

“W-what?” Tweek’s tone was of disbelief. He heard it but it was something he didn’t want to believe.

“I gave you an aphrodisiac pill. I took advantage of you. You begged for help so I touched you.” Kenny went with messing him up but he was not brave enough to look at the boy in front of him. As he stared at the ground, he heard Tweek’s sobs. He looked up to see Tweek continuously wiping his tears with the back of his hands. Kenny thought he would feel happy about it but he never learned anything from the past mistakes he has done.

“I’m sorry.” Kenny kept on going with being mean then getting shot with guilt and taking it back He felt defeated. He watched sadly as Tweek continued to cry and tremble badly.

“W-what d-did you s-see? D-did you r-remove my clothes?” That was all he managed to say.

“What kind of stupid question was that? Who the hell cares about those things when you’ve been harassed?!” Kenny thought out loud. He couldn’t help it. That was really not the question he’d expect to come from his victim.

“So y-..you…you d-did?” Oddly enough, his crying become more uncontrollable, almost to the point that he was having a hard time breathing. He was mostly worried about his bruises being discovered. He knew there would be a lot of things that could happen if someone finds out. It could be the end of their family business or even to the arrest of his parents for being falsely accused of abuse. There were several scenarios he started creating up his head.He was so paranoid about the whole thing and failed to care about what Kenny did to him.

It was not long until Kenny picked up the reason why the other boy asked this question. “Are you hiding those bruises? Where were they from?”

“P-please, K-Kenny. D-don’t tell a-any..anyone about t-tha..that.” Tweek’s begging eyes were fixed on Kenny.

“I don’t get it but okay.” Kenny managed to pretend that he didn't care so Tweek would end up hating him and not talking to him ever. There was a part of him that was curious though.

“Pr-promise?” Tweek's cries were a bit controlled but he still seemed like he was having a hard time breathing normally. But he still couldn’t handle having one person know about his secret. It’s like a step close to having his secret revealed. He blamed himself for being so careless.

“Promise. Look, I don’t know what’s up with you but if that’s trouble, best not be involving Craig in it.” It sounded like a warning or a threat. Maybe it was a threat. He stated it in a way like he had the right to give out threats. If he had guilt earlier, it just kept flying off.

“C-Craig? I-I won't. I p-promise." Tweek was scared and he just agreed without full understanding of what Kenny meant.

“You’re missing the point. Stay away from Craig." The anger was relived once more as he remembered the night Craig started comforting Tweek. "You want to know why I did that to you last night? Cause I want Craig for myself, Tweek. You’re getting in the way of everything. You make him worry, waste his time, throw your problems at him. Heck, you can't even sort your own feelings out. I come to you saying I like you and you cling to me like Craig never mattered. You’re being such a burden to him. You keep leading him on. I hate it so much.” Kenny paused. He felt like he had said enough. He walked off and left Tweek so he didn't have to feel guilt for the nth time.

Tweek felt like the inside of his heart was being wrung out. Never did he think that he was actually a burden to Craig But he finally realizes that it was true. He was too dependent and needy. Sure, without Craig, he would be a much bigger mess, but he never thought of how Craig felt. The truth hurt more than being stabbed by multiple daggers. He clasped onto his chest and the sting from the bruises did not seem to matter anymore. More tears streamed down his face and he didn’t care to wipe them. He stood there all broken.

He tried his best to regain the courage to walk back to the coffee shop. Tweek let the trail of tears on his cheeks dry out as he walked his way to the coffee shop to tell his father that he wasn't feeling well.

On his way home, he was drowned in thoughts, negative ones. Every single word that Kenny had said weren't just bitter ones. They actually made sense. Going back to all the memories he had with Craig, all of them just made it clear how dependent he was. He needed Craig, whether it be a call/text for comfort, an embrace when he's having panic attacks, someone to protect him when a bully comes around to harass him at school, for assurance that he could actually do something and just about almost everything. It was just an emphasis of how weak he is and how he cannot deal with things alone. But what most struck him was the fact that he was dependent and he REALLY might get Craig involved with the problems. That was what scared him to death. He got paranoid and had a lot of violent scenarios forming in his head. It stressed him out up until he reached his home. He couldn't even explain anything to his mom properly. He just went straight to his room to think.

\----

Craig had been waiting for more than an hour at the park. Every minute, he’d check his phone for a text but there was none. His mental images of the bruises Tweek’s body had made him worry a lot. He was afraid that something bad might have happened to Tweek.

Running as fast as he could, he finally reaches Tweek Bro’s Coffee. Tweek was usually there during the weekends. He gasped for air before managing to greet Tweek’s father. “G…good afternoon, sir! Is Tweek here?”

“You okay, Craig? And no, he left an hour ago.”

Craig was now extra scared. “Is he possibly at home, sir?”

“I think so. He said he isn't feeling well.” Richard Tweak explained as he moved some of the sacks of coffee beans to the front door.

“Thank you, sir.” Craig ran off to look for Tweek. He chose the long way to the Tweak's residence just in case, Tweek might have been wandering around instead of resting at home. He checked places that Tweek could possibly go. His shortness of breath finally causes him to stop running and just walk a bit faster towards the door to Tweek's house.

Bowing down and holding his knees, he tried to catch some air. He inhaled a deep breath then exhaled just before reaching Tweek's house. He pressed the doorbell after trying to regain his normal breathing and wiping off the sweat for his face.

He was greeted by Mrs. Tweak. "Oh hi, Craig."

“Tweek…” Panting, he knelt down to check on the blonde boy. "Is Tweek home?"

"Yes, Craig. Are you okay?" Tweek's mother seemed worried about Craig's panting.

"Y....yeah." Craig forced a smile.

"Well, Tweek is in his room but he isn't feeling well." Tweek's mother explained, her voice was filled with worry.

"Thank you!" With that, Craig ran inside the house, then up the stairs as if he actually lived there.

A few knocks were heard. Tweek weakly answered. "Mom, I-I'm not h-hungry.. yet."

Craig could tell that Tweek was crying. He let out a sigh and entered the room.

"M-mom! I a-already said..d tha-at I'm n-n---" Tweek didn't turn around to check who it was instead he covered his face with his pillow. "H-hungry!"

"Tweek." Craig sat on the bed's edge and tried to pull the pillow off Tweek's face. Tweek was shocked that Craig was in his room but he held the pillow tighter so Craig couldn't see his face. _Of all people..._ he thought.

"I know you're crying. Come on." Craig leaned down to check on Tweek and his hand held the end of the pillow.

"N-no I'm fine. I-I'm just not feeling well." Tweek tried his best to lessen the stuttering but his voice still cracked at parts of the sentences.

"Right. Let the pillow go." Craig tugged onto the pillow lightly as he was expecting that Tweek will eventually give in. He usually just does.

Tweek didn't let go and didn't say anything.

"Please, Tweek." Craig's voice was gentle. By this time, Craig was expected to get annoyed already but he seemed more caring today.

Tweek took a deep breath and moved the pillow up enough to show the lower part of his face. "Why did you come here?"

"Come on, Tweek. Stop being silly and remove the pillow."

Tweek moved the pillow off his face slowly, placing it on the side. His eyesight was all blurry for a bit before Craig's worried face was revealed before him. His emerald eyes met Craig's azure ones. He felt a sharp sting in his chest as he remembered Kenny's words and immediately looked away.

"I told you to meet me at the park, remember?"

Finally, Tweek remembered and felt really guilty. His mind was too busy sinking into negative thoughts that he genuinely forgot that the main reason he left the coffee shop early was to meet Craig. "I-I'm sorry!"

"It's fine. I just want to know if you're alright." Craig looked at him. His gaze was on Tweek's chest. He remembers where the bruises were and he just couldn't get it out of his mind.

"Why wouldn't I be? Kenny just came to hang out..." Tweek eyed the cabinet on the side. He tried his best not to sound like he was about to cry.

Now it was really clear that Tweek does not remember what happened. He hated the sudden mention of Kenny too and the vagueness of what happened to them that came with that. Craig's mind couldn't decide whether he'd tell Tweek that he was there with Kenny and heknew about the bruises because he was sure that Tweek would start panicking about it. Tweek was very secretive about those bruises. _If it was easy to confide to anyone about it, he would have approached me for it,_ he thought. But then again, he felt like Tweek will eventually know if Tweek's mom starts telling him that he was also there last night. He didn't know what to say at that moment.

Tweek finally gathers some courage to speak up. "Look, Craig, I think I..." Tweek felt his voice was about to crack so he paused for a bit. "I think I need to stop depending on you." He successfully continued and he sounded very confident about what he said too.

At that moment, Craig sat there, all shocked and silent. Those were words that he never ever expected to come from the other boy. It was true that Tweek did depend on him a lot but Craig wanted him to. Selfish as it was, it was the only thing that brought them closer to each other. If he can't comfort Tweek, who else will?

"What?" He pretended not to hear and hoped Tweek wouldn't be able to repeat it without crying. He swore that if Tweek started crying, someone must've forced him to say that and it meant that he would never ever stop protecting him.

"I said I think I need to handle things on my own from now on." Tweek was determined to actually sound convincing so he turned around and stared directly at Craig. It hurt him a lot but he managed endured it. He couldn't help think that he'd been so selfish this whole time and it needs to stop. It was for the best.

Craig froze for a moment and shifted his gaze to the ceiling. He sighed and looked at the boy who was lying down before him. "Did I do something you didn't like?"

Tweek gulped for a bit. He couldn't take looking at Craig's pained look. But his determination won over him. "No, Craig. I just want to be strong and I can't be if I keep on depending on you."

There was no answer.

It felt selfish to say that it didn't matter that Tweek depended on him too much. He wanted so bad to say it. He felt so bad that he had completely forgotten about his questions about Tweek's bruises. Everything seemed too sudden. Tweek depended on him for a long time so why is he saying this now? He just couldn't take it. A part of him was mad but he knew that being angry will just cause Tweek more pain. He clenched his fist tightly and let out a weak. "I understand. Fine."

They were always silent when they were together, But this time, the silence actually hurt both of them. Tweek couldn't break the silence and the other couldn't either. Craig felt worried about Tweek. He couldn't let Tweek face whatever he was going through alone. But he had to believe in Tweek since he was being pushed away. Defeated, he stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll go now. I hope you'll feel better soon."

As Craig disappeared from view, Tweek's tears started to fall. Tweek's chest felt like it would explode. But he couldn't let Craig get involved. He didn't want to hurt Kenny as well. Everything will fall into place if he manages to be distant from Craig. Deep inside him, he knew that he needed Craig. But he hated being a burden. He hated being weak. Kenny was right.


	5. Resolved but Uncertain

Bzzzt. Bzzt.

Tweek heard his phone vibrate from the work table as he was moving some of the sacks inside the store room. He didn't expect anyone to text him. Usually, the one who does would be Craig but he knew Craig wouldn't bother anymore after what he told him. There was a glimmer of hope in him that thought it might be Craig. He couldn't quite figure out why he wanted it to be Craig but he was too scared to know who it was.

He decides to finish his work first before checking on it. Yesterday, he already left his father to do all the work and he had to make up for it so he gives today all his efforts. He grabs another bag to place inside the the store room.

"Uhm, son!" His father called out.

"Yes? What is it, dad?" Tweek leaned backward from the room to check what it was.

"Can you watch over the shop for a bit? I just need to talk to the supplier." His father grabbed his phone and went outside.

Tweek finally had something to do to keep him busy. The queue was not too long but it would help him get his mind off of things at least. He stayed by the counter for hours, not minding the time. It was days like these that Tweek seemed normal without having to rely on anyone but his medication. Finally, his mind took a break from all the bad events that had been happening lately.

He had completely forgotten about the text he received earlier. Time flew so fast and the next thing he knew, he was already on his bed, resting for the next day.

\----

The next day was not expected to be like the usual. Not for Craig, Kenny or Tweek, at least. Of course, for the others, it was just literally the same routine.

"Tweeeeeeeeek!" There came Clyde's excited greeting.

Tweek didn't want to sound sad so he decides to act natural enough not to raise suspicion of something going on between him and Craig. "Hey, Clyde!"

"How was your weekend? You didn't reply to my text!" Clyde had a pouty look on his face and waited eagerly for Tweek's response.

 _Oh, so it was him._ Tweek thought. His phone already ran out of battery. He didn't care to charge it or check it last night. Tweek had to come up with an excuse. "Ah. There was a lot of work to dooo.. Gah! Sorry!"

"I see! Well, you missed our game night. Funny how you and Craig here are a package deal. If one fails to come, the other does too. Power couple!! HAHA" Clyde laughed and tapped him on the shoulder before looking over to Craig, who wasn't paying much attention.

Tweek forced a fake chuckle. He tried to ask about what happened so the topic will be changed. "How was game night?"

"It was great! My game nights are always great!" Clyde started boasting. ""I won against Cartman and boy, was he devastated!"

"Great game nights? But there were only five of us." Token started to speak as he walked beside Craig who was awfully quiet. Unlike Tweek, he didn't intend to fake any emotion. He just literally stood there and had no reaction whatsoever. Although, this doesn't really give off anything since Craig was naturally a man of few words.

"Really? Did you play, Token?" Tweek continued to ask questions just to check who came in for Game night.

"Just once, against Stan. I kind of owned him like twice in a row then lost." Token humbly stated. "Clyde won against Cartman then Cartman owned Kyle and of course, you know what happened."

 _Five people... Clyde, Token, Cartman, Stan and Kyle..._ Tweek finally discovered that both Craig and Kenny didn't come. He felt like it was his fault as he upset both of them but he had to keep up with the act. He laughed a bit. "They start fighting, of course!"

"I'm going on ahead. Need to get something from my locker." Craig didn't bother to look at any of his friends. He placed both his hands in his hoodie pocket and walked off.

"Crai---" Clyde, who was intending to follow Craig was stopped by Token. He had his hand on Clyde's shoulder then shook his head.

"Wha-wha?"

"I thought you're going to talk about how you won against Cartman." Token since he was sure that Craig wasn't in the mood. It was quite easy for Token to make Clyde do what he wanted anyway. All he needed to do is just make Clyde talk about himself and he'd forget everything.

Instantly, he faced Tweek and started talking about last game night's events. "So yeah, I did this move. Gates of Hell or something and that's it. Cartman's button mashing is nothing to me! HAHAHA!" Clyde seemed like his talking would never end. Tweek was more focused on Craig who slowly disappeared from their view. Not interacting with Craig felt so odd. It hurt him. He weakly gave out one-word answers which Clyde didn't seem to mind as he was too much into his own stories.

"And also I gave him this move..arg! I forgot what it's called!" Clyde rubbed his chin as he tried to remember.

"Shut up, Clyde!" Cartman walked passed them, followed by Stan and Kyle.

Tweek's eyes followed the group as he worriedly searched for Kenny. He didn't want to ask about it since he and Kenny were not that close in everyone's eyes. He just let out a sigh.

"You okay, Tweek?" Token asked.

"Hn!" Tweek just nodded and went on with his happy act.

The three continued talking until it was finally time to go to their classroom. Token knew something was going on but he felt like it would be okay soon. This already happened twice and eventually, the two would start talking again after a few hours.

\---

Craig scanned the classroom and saw that Kenny was not in. It kind of made him feel bad cause he learned Kenny did not join game night as well. He probably upset him a lot or he could just be overthinking. Kenny might just be causing trouble around town or just flirting around with people on the streets for all he knows. He tried to shrug the worry off his mind. He already had a lot to think about. There's Tweek, for one. Craig was conscious of Tweek's actions from his peripheral vision. Tweek was acting all fine. He could read Tweek but he didn't show signs that he was panicking or anything that meant he wasn't fine. Obviously, Craig wasn't over with what Tweek had told him and he continued to observe him with a hope that Tweek would run back to him and things will be back to normal.

Tweek was also worrying about Kenny being absent. He wanted to look for him after school and tell him that he wouldn't get in the way. For now, he needed to focus on school since he didn't really want his parents to worry if he starts failing class over all the stress he's been experiencing.

He raised his hand, volunteering to read the paragraph on the book. It wasn't a shocking moment for his classmates anymore since he did change. He wasn't as anxious and spastic as he used to be. He impressively read the paragraph, with the right pauses and emotion on every sentence and everyone seemed impressed about it.

"Good job!" Mr Mackey nodded his head.

"Wow, you sound like a second-tier student body president. Even a little better than Wendy." Cartman remarked. "I'm still better but yeah."

Wendy just ignored Cartman's remark and looked at Tweek, whispering "You did great, Tweek!"

"What the hell is a second-tier president?" Kyle shot him an annoyed look.

"Shut up, Kyle!" Cartman turned to Tweek who was now busy writing on his book. "Tweek, I will be president and you'll be second-tier!" For a moment, it was kind of flattering to be acknowledged by someone as self-centered as Cartman. Tweek just nodded awkwardly to Cartman who raised his eyebrows up and down at him.

Craig felt really annoyed that Tweek was absolutely fine without him. He knew how selfish he was but he just couldn't take watching Tweek act like nothing happened. "Mr.Mackey."

"Yes, Craig?" Mr. Mackey stopped writing on the board and looked at Craig.

Craig raised his middle finger at his teacher. This was something that his classmates haven't seen in for the longest time. They all had their mouths open, well, except Token and Tweek who both worriedly looked at Craig.

"Did you just flip me off?!" Mr. Mackey dropped his chalk on the floor and had his hands on his waist.

There was awkward silence but Cartman's supressed laughter was surely heard. Miraculously, he was too busy laughing, he didn't actually make a comment. Craig got off his seat and stood up.

"Where are you going? You better sit right there..mmkay." Mr. Mackey was a little angry.

"I'll be going to the detention hall." Craig assumed, eyes on the door.

"Did you just flip me off to skip class! You can't do that...mmka---."

Craig flipped him off again. Cartman's laughter went wild and the others just watched Craig. This angered Mr. Mackey even more. "Now you better go to the detention hall right now.. mmkay!"

Craig automatically went to the door as if he really did flip Mr. Mackey off to skip class. Tweek's heart pounded faster than the usual and the strong urge to go after Craig was hard to resist. He knew though that he cannot do that.

Token and Clyde had a very worried look on their faces.Token finally whispers to Tweek. "What's wrong with Craig?"

Tweek felt really bad. He started twitching but he did his best not to think too much. He had to learn how to deal with stressful situations by himself. "I-I don't know."

Token finally takes this as something off boundaries. He confirmed that there was really something going on between Tweek and Craig. Something that isn't going to be resolved right away and something that can only be fixed by them.

Craig's group of friends all just desperately waited for the classes to end. Tweek tried his best to concentrate. He made himself busy writing up the essay for English class during lunch time even if it was still due for the next day.

\----

The bell that marked the end of class was finally heard. "Those guys" had a worried face on for the entire day. Clyde started suggesting to save Craig from detention as if it was something that they can actually do. "He's probably just lazy to attend class. Let's go get him out of there!"

"You'll get him in more trouble, Clyde. Remember the last time we did that, he got suspended." Token simply stated.

"Well, Craig hasn't flipped off anyone since 1965." Clyde exaggeratedly said, insisting to save Craig. "Come on, guys. Tweek!" Clyde turned to Tweek and held both his shoulders. "Come on!"

Tweek didn't know what to say. It was his fault but he couldn't do anything. He knew it would piss Craig off they did try to get him out of detention and he just had to get this across Clyde's insisting self. "I don't think it's a nice idea. He might get pissed off."

"EHHH! So we're going home without him?!" Clyde whined then suddenly snapped with an idea. "Ah! Maybe Kenny is also at the detention hall with him. I haven't seen him all day!"

"I think he's absent." Token simply said.

Tweek finally remembered that he needed to look for Kenny. He really felt the strong need to talk to him. "I need to go, guys! I have a lot to do!" He scratched his head.

"WHAT?! You're going to leave Craig?!" Clyde was shocked that Tweek was already getting ready to leave.

"He will just get angry if you force him out of detention, Clyde. You know it!" Tweek reminded him. For some reason, Clyde was somehow convinced that it is true. But still it felt weird to see Tweek just leave Craig. He just looked sadly at Token.

"We'll wait for him then." Token said as he dragged Clyde to the classroom.

"Okay.. I really need to go!" Tweek ran off.

"Wow. He just left Craig for real!" Clyde was almost about to cry.

"Wha-- Dude, why are you so affected?" Token annoyingly looked at his friend.

"B-but! They're the power couple! They shouldn't be able to function on their own!" Clyde's tears were almost about to fall and he started sniffling too.

"Don't you dare start crying, Clyde." Token warned him.

"Yeah yeah okay..." Clyde tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling.

"What are you doing?" Token looked at him in confusion.

"I'm stopping my tears from falling." Clyde just decided to send a text to Craig even though, there was no chance of Craig actually being able to check on his phone.

"O-ok." Token just sat there in thought and hoped that things would just go back to normal.

\-----

Tweek felt guilty leaving Craig but he clung to the idea that at least, Clyde and Token were both there. He needed to stay away from him anyway. Today, he had to explain something to Kenny. But he was unsure where to go. Kenny and him weren't really close. He does not have any idea where Kenny lived or where he hangs out. His mind finally negatively insists that probably, this was a pointless quest after all. He walked around town, asking people if they saw Kenny, describing how he looked and the usual outfit he wears. It was still early so he had a lot of time to search the town some more before he goes home.

Being the small town it is, finding people won't be that hard of a task so he didn't lose hope even after exploring almost every street he's known of. It kind of seemed that he was searching at the wrong places. As he continued to walk, he looked down sadly at the thought that he needed to wait until Kenny comes to class. Tweek's luck in searching for people seemed to be very low today. He crossed the pedestrian lane area and finally felt his phone vibrate for a bit. He decided to check his phone.

**tweek, token's now! <<**

It was Clyde. This was probably an attempt to fix things between Tweek and Craig or he just really does not intend to study for their test tomorrow. Tweek wanted to study but he didn't want them to get the impression that he was avoiding Craig.

**> >What about our test tomorrow?**

**competing with kyle broflovski? sheesh we can study later! <<**

Tweek smiled at Clyde's text. There was no way he was competing with Kyle but he did enjoy being recognized as someone who actually cares about studies and someone who is smart. Being compared to Kyle meant just that. Finally, he gets to be "normal" for once and recognized for things that he never thought he'd be able to do.

His smile turned into a frown after remembering who actually helped him become "normal". It was the person he pushed away. For certain, he'd end up "just a spaz" and friendless if Craig hadn't dragged him to his group. He sighed deeply. A part of him kept on clinging to Craig no matter how hard he tried to avoid him. He felt hesitant to reply to Clyde's text. But it would be very rude if he replied the first time so he apparently, does not have any choice. He was thinking that Craig might not be there anyway since he probably hates him. Finally, he decided to send a confirmation text.

**ok. see ya! <<**

Tweek shifted to the other direction, walking back to the street that lead to Token's house. Luckily for him, Token's wasn't too far from where he stopped searching for Kenny. On his way, he saw a familiar figure. It was Kyle. Weird thing is that, people appear when you talk about them.

"Hey, Tweek." Kyle waved a hand at the blonde boy.

"Hello, Kyle!" He greeted him with a shy smile. Kyle was sort of an inspiration for him. Most of the kids at school don't really focus on their studies as much as Kyle does. Tweek really wanted to excel in class too.

Kyle started checking his phone, browsing on some random text messages. "Going to Token's?"

"Hm.. Yeah.. But I sort of am worried about our test." Tweek had a worried tone as he started fiddling with his own phone but looking at nothing in particular.

"Tweek, you sure have changed a lot." Kyle turned to look at Tweek, smiling. "I mean... before, to be honest, I felt like you were too weird. No offense, dude."

Tweek smiled back at him. It was just too flattering so he couldn't come up with what to say.

Kyle pat him on the back. "But here you are now, the guy I don't want to be groupmates with in class before is now about to steal my top ranking." He chuckled a little.

"EH! I won't.. well, I c-can't." Tweek's stuttered for a bit at the worry that Kyle might have been disliking him.

"Oh! Don't get me wrong, dude. You're great! Craig sure helped you a lot."

That last line was totally unnecessary. The flattery slowly melted into anxiety. Once again, he was reminded that everything he was now was because of Craig. He was not able to speak for a bit.

"Hey, fags!" Cartman appeared in between Kyle and Tweek.

"Seriously?! Of all people! Ugh. Goddamnit." Kyle irritably walked a bit faster.

"Oh, jew. Ya missed me?" Cartman caught up with him and leaned dangerously close to Kyle.

"Fuck off!" Kyle pushed Cartman off and he hit Tweek.

"Oh hay, second-tier president!" Cartman had an arm on Tweek's shoulder.

"The fuck, Cartman. There is no such thing as second-tier president!" Kyle was obviously annoyed.

"Aw. You so smart, jew? What's it called?"

"I don't know, maybe vice president." The sarcastic tone was strong on the first sentence.

"That's a jew term! Right, second-tier?" Cartman angrily walked towards the Black's residence gate.

Tweek just smiled as he struggled to control his thoughts. He didn't want to ruin the mood. Although, he wasn't exactly sure if the mood was even good to begin with.

"You're retarded." Kyle rolled his eyes.

Finally, Tweek had a question in mind. "Where's Kenny?"

"Kenny? Maybe with Stan. Not sure." Kyle started texting Stan.

"Kenny isn't coming. He's probably helping out Butters with a project." Cartman simply said

"Project? Riiight..." Kyle shook his head and went in.

Tweek just looked at the two confusedly. He went in and was greeted by no other else but excited Clyde.

"TWEEK! Oh, you're with competition!" Clyde looked at Tweek then Kyle and laughed. "Just when I said you're compet---"

Tweek ran to Clyde and covered his mouth. Kyle just looked at them confusedly. "What?"

"That jew is no competition. He sucks on every game we ever play." Cartman said almost to seriously to piss Kyle off.

"Fuck you, Cartman!"

"Are we really just going to stay outside?" Craig seemed very grouchy.

Tweek looked at Craig, who somewhat seemed fine now. Sadly, Craig didn't really bother looking at him. He goes inside the house with Token followed by the others. Tweek tried not to react and just went in as well. Cartman followed quickly behind Craig. "Craig, that shit you did at school was awesome! Back in assholeland, I see."

"Fuck you." Craig sat on the couch and flipped Cartman off.

"See, guys! Craig's back so he better have the controller! Here!" Cartman handed him the controller. "I'll be the final battle, cause, well I'm good and you guys..ahem..suck."

Craig didn't say anything and grabbed the controller. Cartman had to add more to what he said, "You know..literally suck." He chuckled.

"Shut up, Cartman!" Kyle had to butt in.

"So affected, aren't you, jew? You suck shlongs too?" The "big-boned" boy had to look Kyle directly in the eyes as if actually wanting an answer. He smirked at him.

"No and fuck you." Kyle looked away, of course and crossed his arms.

"Can't really keep count of the number of times Cartman got fuck you's." Token stated.

"Can I join! Fuck you, Cartman!" Clyde said excitedly.

"Oh god." Token just sat beside Craig who was just eyeing the floor as he waited for an opponent. He felt as though Craig was feeling impatient waiting for an opponent so he asked the group. "Who's going against Craig then?"

Cartman grabbed the other controller and threw it to Tweek. The blonde was so surprised, he almost failed to catch the controller. He stared at Cartman. "M-me?"

"Yes, yes. Second-tier! I mean, you guys suck ahem.. so you have to be the first one. Unless Kyle wants to be first cause he's gayest." Cartman chortled in between phrases and checked out the snacks that Token had for them on the table. He grabbed the Cheesy poofs placed inside a big bowl excitedly and threw a couple pieces in his mouth.

"For once, can you just.. ugh." Kyle pretended to be interested in snacks but just lazily checked the stuff on the table.

"Kyle needs Jew snacks, Token!" It just continued, of course.

"So we're not going to start?" Craig was really annoyed. He didn't even bother watching the two arguing. "Tweek, just freaking hit start already."

Token moved to the side as if implying that Tweek should sit beside Craig. Tweek shyly sat beside Craig. It was kind of awkward since they haven't talked at all this day. Tweek pressed start with his shaking fingers.

"Just act naturally. You're good at that, right?" Craig's elbow rested on the arm of the couch, his hand on his chin as he waited.

Tweek looked at him in shock. It was confirmed that Craig was indeed angry at him. Tweek felt a sharp pain in his chest. A pain that would take a lot of effort to ignore. He shifted his gaze on the TV. The negative aura was felt by everyone except Clyde and Cartman.

"Go, Tweek!!!" Clyde cheered.

"Oddly, I'll also cheer for you, second-tier!"

"Shut your fucking mouth, Cartman!" A whole new round of argument was impending to start between Kyle and Cartman so Token had to speak to stop this from happening.

"Isn't Stan coming?" Token asked worried that there wasn't anyone who could stop Cartman and Kyle from actually punching each other all of a sudden.

"No. He had to help his dad with something." Kyle explained as he watched Tweek and Craig select a character. Oddly, Craig picked the character that Tweek used to beat Cartman before. Remembering game nights, Tweek would always choose that character.

"I'll own you using the character you always use." Craig's voice really had a hint of anger to it. Everyone was just not used to Craig being unfriendly towards Tweek. As much as Craig liked to think that he was able to successfully hide his concern for Tweek from his friends, they clearly knew that he cared a lot for him. This behavior of Craig was kind of a new thing to them.

Heck, even Cartman finally noticed the tension but he didn't intend to say anything appropriate for the tense atmosphere that was forming. "Oh, what was that Craig? Not baby-ing Tweek today huh?"

Kyle automatically elbowed Cartman. Craig surprisingly had a comback despite how calm he looked. "He's grown up really fast, Cartman. I can't take care of him anymore. He's **so independent** now."

Tweek tried his best to ignore the remarks from Craig. He selected some other character. He wasn't bothered about the fact that the character he usually uses was already selected actually, since he can win even if he chooses a character randomly. He just couldn't help be bothered by Craig's cold treatment. He couldn't focus that much and everyone watched Tweek's character lose during the first round. As the second round started, Tweek looked sadly at Craig. He couldn't concentrate on the game. He felt defeated at this point and wished he could take back what he said days before. His chest started hurting a lot and his hand started shaking. But the echo of Kenny's voice kept on haunting him. He was reminded that he couldn't get Craig involved.

Just imagining all the bad things that could happen to Craig caused him to gain enough courage to speak. "Yep. I'm no baby and I'm not backing down." He tried to control his emotions as much as he could, turning his worries into frustrated anger, He made three straight high-damage combos causing Craig's character to fall, HP bar almost down to a thin line. Craig looked at Tweek slightly and got surprised by his words but he pretended like he did not give a fuck.

"Ooooh!" Cartman chuckled as he stuffed more Cheesy Poofs in his mouth. "Feisty Second-tier."

Three of the boys didn't know whether it was fine to speak up or just watch. As for Cartman, he understood that there was something wrong going on between Tweek and Craig but he really just was an asshole. He just went on with his usual commentary on every single thing that happens.

Tweek was determined to beat Craig for some reason. Most likely wanting to prove a point. He wanted people to know that he wasn't weak and he was fine without Craig's help. Not that a winning game could actually prove anything. But he won the next two rounds with enough determination and of course, because he actually was good in this game.

"Good job, Tweek. You really can work things **on your own.** " There was a distinct emphasis on the last part of what he said, sounding almost too sarcastic. He stood up and dropped the controller on Token's lap. "Well, I'm off. Need to study."

"WHOA! Sore loser! Study your face! You don't study!" Cartman stood up and blocked Craig from the door, waving the controller.

For a moment, Tweek wanted to actually just leave and cry. Hostile Craig was not someone he has already dealt with. They have fought before but Craig usually was just silent because there was a caring part of him that worried about Tweek. But this time, it was very different. Tweek couldn't control the way his mind started roaming. For a moment he felt sad, then angry and worried. He just couldn't tell what to feel about how Craig was acting. He held his head in his hands. "GAH!!"

Cartman looked back at Tweek. "Oh no. Spaz is back."

"Cartman, can't you just. UGH." Kyle was so frustrated at Cartman cause he knew that there is no way he could make the guy shut up.

Craig eyed him. He was worried, sure. But he kept staring coldly at Tweek. His fists were tightly closed. He struggled inside. His own mind cursed at how horrible he acted. But he has to own up to what he decided to do. Pride finally made its way back to Craig. He couldn't show sympathy at this point as he felt very blinded by anger.

Tweek's body started shaking. He didn't really want to ruin the night so he made excuses. "I-I t-think I need to go t-too."

Kyle and Token were almost about to speak in unison but Kyle nodded to Token, giving him the turn to speak. "Are you okay, Tweek?"

"Yeah! N-no worries." Tweek fixed the strap of his bag to keep his hands from trembling. He ran to the door and passed by Craig.

"Dude, seriously, what's wrong?" Clyde questioned his best friend. Craig said nothing and just stood there.

"Well, this is too awkward now so I'm going too." Kyle stood up to leave. "Thanks, Token. I have to study as well anyway."

Token just nodded.

Cartman lifted the bowl and had the remaining Cheesy poofs drop in his mouth. "Well, mood killers. I bid you farewell. Thanks for the snacks, Token." Cartman ran to Kyle as if they were close.

"I'm not the type to interfere, man. But I'm worried about Tweek. I know you are too." Token looked at Craig, who was eyeing the floor.

"Yeah. Cartman and Kyle go the other way. He'll be alone." Clyde tried to convince Craig to follow their friend.

Silence. It seemed like Craig didn't really care for a moment. It was as if the old Craig is back.Token sighed. Clyde grunted and shook his head. "Fine. I'll follow him then!"

Clyde walked off, his hand reaching for the doorknob.

"He wants to handle things on his own." Craig said sounding a bit defeated, eyes still fixed on the floor.

Right then and there, Token finally had idea about what was going on. It seemed as though Tweek actually wanted to prove something to everyone.

Clyde just raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure, man. But you know he can't do that which is why you have to follow him."

"If he was here when you said that, I think you'll make him feel worse than I even did." Craig looked at Clyde emotionlessly.

"Arg! Well.. we can't just.." Clyde didn't continue and sat on the couch. Clyde was very worried. He just texted Tweek but he knew he wouldn't be getting a reply.

"I'm going." Craig said coldly. Token and Clyde just looked at him sadly, replying with a nod and the hope that Craig would catch up with Tweek to check on him.

\--------------------

Tweek's suppressed tears finally fell as he walked his way home. He sobbed and wiped the tears with the back of his hand just whenever they started falling. He couldn't quite understand what he wanted. There was a longing for the kind and caring Craig but he was scared to death about what could happen and he didn't want Kenny to feel bad. There were more reasons to avoid Craig but his feelings do not agree with everything causing his mind to become a total wreck.

"Noo..." He slapped his cheeks with his own hands. Tears wet his fingers a bit. He felt like he was going crazy. He really wanted to be beside Craig always. He needed him. It hurt but it was just so wrong.

Bzzzt. Bzzt. He was hesitant to check his phone. It could either be Token or Clyde, who seemed to be more worried about him than Craig. In his head, he assumed that Clyde will force Craig to come after him. He didn't want to talk to hostile Craig so he decided to run his way home.

\--------------------

Kenny's eyes watched Tweek from the other side of the street. There was something weird about him. He kept on slapping himself with his hands. Kenny leaned against the lamp post and amusingly watched the other blonde. Finally, he notices the tears on Tweek's eyes. He must have been on an anxiety attack. The idea of helping out actually struck him but he didn't really want to get involved with whatever Tweek was worried about. Oddly, Tweek started running off just as Kenny felt like doing just the same thing. Seeing Tweek run away, he smirked and placed his hand inside his pocket and just decided to walk.

He lit up a cigarette to clear his mind of thoughts. As much as he wanted to think that Tweek was a crazy kid. He was no different. He had his share of monsters in his head. He was mentally harassed by the thought that it was wrong to have confronted Tweek about Craig. He was swallowed by thoughts until somebody grabbed him by the arm. He was startled, he almost dropped his cigarette.

"What gives--" Kenny turned around to see Craig then removed his arm from his grasp. Kenny sighed then spoke. "What the fuck, are there only three people in this town? Jesus Christ, you guys are everywhere."

Craig didn't make any comment on this so Kenny decided to speak again. "Well, your boyfriend went that way." He pointed out the spot where Tweek went running off.

"Mccormick, we need to talk." Craig said in a very serious tone.

"About what?" Kenny had to sound like he didn't care that much about past events. He did but he needed to maintain the I-don't-care face for show.

"You know what. Stop playing dumb." Craig was already beginning to become irritated since he had a pretty shitty day already.

"If I knew, I wouldn't ask, right?" Kenny leaned against the brick wall. He took a puff from his cigarette. He lifted his chin up and blew at the smoke towards Craig's direction, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Now is not the time to be a smartass, Mccormick." Craig only rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Can we please just talk? Like actually talk. Normally."

"This is normal. I mean, what is normal to you anyway?"

Craig grunted. "So you're never going to explain what happened that night ever huh?"

"Oh, is that what this is all about?" Kenny faked a laugh. "Well, just so you know, I wasn't able to accomplish what I wanted to do to him. You know, like suck his dick or feel his insides or something."

Craig gritted his teeth in anger almost instinctively ready to grab Kenny by the collar and punch him.

"You going to punch me? Go right ahead." He leaned forward pointing to his face. "Over here."

"You fucker. Why are you even doing this?!" Craig let Kenny go and threw a punch on the wall instead.

"Cause I'm a fucker. Fuckers do just that. They fuck people." Kenny continued his whole act of being the braver one. In his mind, he really wanted to tell Craig something else.

"Fuck you."

"But you won't, right?" Kenny's eyes met Craig's. He was hurt and his eyes reflected just that.

It confused Craig a whole lot. He couldn't understand just why Kenny reacted weirdly again. There was no answer from Craig. It wasn't even a statement that actually needed an answer anyway.

"I hate how you can't say anything. You always start all angry and then be quiet the next. Unbelievable." Kenny angrily eyed the other boy.

"Look, I know you enjoy having sex with everyone but can you just leave Tweek out of this." Craig sounded like he was begging. It annoyed Kenny so much. He hated seeing this side of Craig.

"Why is everyone all over Tweek now? Annoying cause he was just this wallflower that everyone ignored until the Asians came and paired you up with him. Now the whole world revolves around him, ....around you like you weren't the one who broke up with him." Kenny started saying a lot of things again. He always ends up uncontrollable when he gets angry.

"But you're also into him. I mean, you tried to hit on him. What the hell is wrong with you?" Craig was obviously too confused.

"Argh! I don't know. He makes me angry and at the same time, I pity him. It's driving me insane. I want to help him out but he really just pisses me off generally." Kenny managed to explain as he kicked a random rock. That was one part that he did not intend to tell Craig.

"Why does he piss you off? I just don't get it, Mccormick."

"I've already answered your first question. One question per day only, Tucker. To elaborate, I accompanied Tweek home, gave him aphrodisiac, tried to fuck him but unfortunately, I couldn't cause I saw the bruises on his chest, then he started begging me for help so I did try to help, you came, so I wasn't able to do anything. That's it, okay? Can I go now?" Kenny threw the cigarette on the floor and stepped on it with his right foot. His gaze moved to Craig's fists which were probably shaking out of extreme anger. "What, you hate me? You can punch me before I leave."

Craig did not speak nor did he actually punch Kenny. He just stood there, eyeing the floor like he usually does.

"Of course, you can't punch me. You're a coward anyway. You can't even tell Tweek how you feel. You're just as pitiful as he is." Despite being the one who spoke the most harsh words, Kenny felt defeated and hurt. For one, he didn't want Craig to tell Tweek about his feelings. Tweek easily gives in and would probably just date him. It was not far from happening since they were awfully close to begin with. That thought scared him and he cursed himself for suggesting the opposite of what he wanted. He decided to leave Craig and walk home.

As for Craig, he just felt very worried about Tweek. He was mean to him despite knowing that he was going through so much all by himself. He felt guilty and decided to just keep his pride down and talk to him tomorrow.

\---

He reached his house by a few more steps and saw familiar people entering the garage of their home. He let out an annoyed sigh before continued walking towards the door of his house. He hated social-interaction, specially when he was in a bad mood.

"Ey, kid! Want to have some fun?" The guy with lengthy hair called out to him.

"No. I have school work." Kenny rolled his eyes then rummaged his bag in search for the key. His parents were not home and he figured Kevin and Karen would be asleep at this time.

"School work, yeah right! Killjoy!" The same guy shrugged and faced the other two guys who leaned by the garage door.

Kenny ignored them and slid the key to open the door. As he went in, he overheard the men from outside. He stopped by the door.

"Eh.. it's almost Wednesday anyway!" One of the guys suggested.

"Yeah! Coffee blondie kid better provide for our needs!" They all started laughing.

Kenny froze for a few seconds upon hearing what had been said. He felt a chill in him that he couldn't quite explain. He wanted to make sure he heard it right but at the same time, he didn't want to ask. It might make him sound like he was interested or worse, like he knew who they were pertaining to. That would just be extra trouble. He stopped by the door, hoping he could listen in.

"What should we do to him this time?"

"Burn his legs or something like that!"

"What? He won't be able to move and that's just going to be too suspicious."

"Then just pour hot water on him."

"That seems fine but it won't hurt a lot though."

"Yeah and he's always able to handle everything. It kinda pisses me off that he isn't as weak as he looks."

"But he does look really cute when he cries!"

"So burn his legs, right? That WILL make him cry."

Kenny tightly clenched his fists. For some reason, he felt really mad as to how these guys casually talked about torturing someone like it's nothing. He gritted his teeth at the thought of Tweek getting harrassed. Tweek was too fragile. At this moment, he was just too angry, he already forgot about how much he disliked Tweek.

"Who the fuck are you talking about?" Kenny faced them all with an angry look on his face.

"What the hell, kid! It has nothing to do with you!" Alex, one of the guys, replied with a grin then he turned back to his group, suggesting something. "How about let's cut him all over like on his chest, thighs.. oh god."

"That's never going to be an option cause he will bleed and someone will---"

Kenny approached them and grabbed the one named Todd by the collar. "Don't just go ignoring me here! Who are you pertaining to?!"

Todd shoved him off and pushed him to the side. "Geez, kid. Calm the fuck down. It has nothing to do with you!"

"But I want to know!" Kenny shouted.

"The fuck is your problem?! That's none of your business! Stick your nose into somewhere else, will ya?!" The other guy, Bryan, shouted back at him.

Alex stood in front of Kenny, he looked very enraged. "Why are you so interested anyway?"

Kenny finally realized that it was wrong of him to start asking too much. he might come off too suspicious and they might find out that he knew Tweek. Kenny looked away but kept his angry look.

"Don't worry kid, we aren't touching Karen." Kenny almost bit his lip out of anger when he heard his sister's name being mentioned. "Not yet, at least!" The other two guys started laughing.

Without any hesitation, Kenny launched his fist onto Alex's jaw. It was surely painful as the guy spat out blood after receiving the blow. Automatically, the other two guys got agitated. Kenny was held by the arms by the other two guys. Alex's fist landed on Kenny's stomach. "You little motherfucker!"

A series of kicks to his guts, and multiple punches on his face were received before Kenny started smirking at them. "That all you got?"

The guys decided to just let it go. They knew Kenny was a tough kid plus they were standing on territory grounds too. The best option would be to drop it. "Next time, don't be too damn nosy. Goddamnit!"

The impact from the punches left Kenny's face bruised and wounded. Kenny stood up like he was not too affected. He wiped his blood-smeared lips with a finger and glared at them almost too threateningly. "You better not involve my family in this. I'll kill every single one of you."

"I was just kidding. Jesus Christ. Kids these days." Alex knew he can't mess with the Mccormicks so he went inside the garage without saying another word. The other two just followed as if nothing happened.

Kenny went inside his house. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it. He slowly sat down and covered his face with his hands. He felt bad for Tweek. It was simply because he knew these guys had no mercy. If they did have mercy, meth will probably melt that down to increased aggressiveness and irritability. From the bruises he saw on Tweek's chest, he was sure that these guys were capable of doing something much more intense every time. Remembering just how Tweek smiled at him days before, it made him feel very guilty. Tweek was a threat but he didn't deserve to get his legs burned or even have his body covered with cuts, that's for sure. It angered Kenny that he was the one who was chosen to find out about this.

_What the hell should I do now... fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What am I doing? I know right.. 
> 
> Hinted pairings of my interest are actually peeping in. Sorry, guys. I tried to keep it to a minimum. Also, that's not Twyle, guys. I just enjoy the thought of Tweek becoming a topnotcher in class as inspired by the studious Jew. I don't know what I'm talking about and why I'm doing this whole explanation thing so yeah.
> 
> Typos here and there.. I might edit typos, grammar problems like the tenses and shit like that once I actually get enough time. Again, thanks to those who actually waste some of their time reading. Thanks for the comments and kudos. Highly appreciated!


	6. Rising but Sinking

The usual school routine, with all the happy greetings and such, was not seen today. Three of the boys, Craig, Token and Clyde came in early to study for their scheduled Math test.Tweek never answered their text messages so they decided to just wait for him to arrive. The school halls were quiet. None of the boys actually started a conversation. Clyde being quiet seemed unusual but he just couldn't find the words to actually say. 

Entering the room, they see Tweek. His face was buried in his arms, seemingly asleep on the armrest of his chair. Token looked at Tweek with a worried expression and looked to Craig, who was not successful in hiding his worried look. 

"Tweek!" Clyde ran to him and shook him a bit. 

"H-hm..?" Tweek slowly looked up at him. The skin beneath his eyes were all swollen, puffy and red.  He wiped his eyes a bit.

Clyde's eyes grew wide and leaned a bit to check on Tweek's face. "You okay?!" 

"Y-yes." Tweek's hand was shaking again and he stuttered too. 

It hurt Craig to see Tweek back to his devastated state. He thought he could carry on being cold to Tweek. He was wrong. He bit his lip before he was finally able to speak. "Tweek." 

Tweek didn't look at Craig. He stared at his seat's armrest and tried to control his hands from shaking. 

"Did you drink your medicine?" Craig didn't care anymore if he shows his soft side to his friends. He just wanted to make sure Tweek was okay. Seeing that Craig might hold back with whatever he had to say, Token signaled Clyde to go with him outside the classroom. Clyde automatically followed and waved a hand at the blonde. These two boys hoped for things to get fixed between Tweek and Craig. 

Tweek grabbed his bag from his side and started searching for his medicine. It was an indirect "No". Craig offered his water bottle to Tweek, placing it on the desk. "Drink it now."

"I-I'm fine. I-I..have gah... I have my o-own w-water b-bottle.." Tweek struggled to speak. He popped a pill in his mouth then drank on his own water bottle.

Craig grabbed his water bottle and sat beside Tweek, looking at him with gentle eyes. "I'm sorry." 

Tweek slowly turned to Craig who had a pained expression on his face. Tears welled from Tweek's eyes. He couldn't take it. He didn't want to hurt Craig. 

"Shh.. I can't hold you but just.. think of happy thoughts." Craig wanted to desperately to hug Tweek but he knew the boy wouldn't want that. Tweek's light sobs were heard. Lucky for them, no one actually goes to the classroom  this early. Tweek held his chest which seemed to hurt a lot. He couldn't reply to whatever Craig told him. He was afraid that if he started to speak, he might say something he would end up regretting. 

"Tweek, I'll talk to you after school. Okay? Please be okay until then. Always remember, happy thoughts." Craig stood up. He smiled and almost aimed to pat Tweek on the head which he was able to stop before his fingers even reached the blond's hair. He placed his hand inside his pocket instead. 

Tweek simply nodded. He really missed this side of Craig. It was just one day of hostile Craig and he wasn't able to take it already. What more if Craig decided to be unfriendly forever? Now he was torn whether he would want to talk to Craig about everything. He really wanted to do it so bad. If anyone could understand how he feels, it would be Craig. At the same time, the last one he'd want to be involved in this was Craig. 

Time passed by too quickly, during the first class, Tweek was sent to the nurse's office to rest. Then lunch came, and it was the same awkward silence on the table. 

"What is with this awkward silence, guys?" Stan asked before taking a sip of his juice.

"Oh, nothing much. Just lovers quarrel!" Cartman shrugged and finished his food in one go. Kyle felt like he had every right to elbow Cartman this time. "Shut up!" He mumbled but with them spaced too near each other, there was no way the others wouldn't have heard that. 

"Where's Kenny?" Clyde asked just to shift to another topic. 

"He didn't say anything about his plans today so.. Maybe not feeling well?" Stan answered for the others who probably had no idea where Kenny was too. 

"Yeah, Butters isn't here either. Queer times! Just like our lovers over here!" Cartman pointed at Tweek and Craig who were seated apart. "Loversssss quarrel!" He repeated.

Token felt very uneasy. Clyde felt the need to change the topic again so he resorted to whatever topic that came to mind. "So how are your tests?" 

"Do we really need to talk about this? Are you a mom?" Cartman raised an eyebrow at Clyde. Clyde made a begging face. "Why are you doing that expression? You dumb?" 

"I got quite an acceptable score." Token answered to go on with the selected topic-changer. Clyde smiled at the support he got on Mission: Change topic.

"Bet you aced that huh, Kyle?" Stan smiled at Kyle. 

Kyle kind of blushed and looked away. "Well, I did make two mistakes. How about you, Tweek?" He turned to Tweek, who was silently poking the food with his fork. 

"Wow. So much for your boasting, Jew." Cartman rolled his eyes. Kyle just glared at Cartman and refused to start a senseless argument.

"Huh?" Tweek blinked a couple of times then finally answered, his face reflected shame. "I almost failed.." 

The atmosphere kind of started being awkward again. The other boys didn't know what was the right thing to say. 

"You can get a better score next time, you're second-tier." Craig simply said. Kyle's mouth dropped at the term "second-tier". 

"Yeah! Don't worry, second-tier!" Cartman said as he nodded. This supportive act was another jaw-dropper for Kyle and for everyone. For some reason, Cartman wasn't exactly being a dick to Tweek lately.

Tweek smiled. "Hn.. I'll try to do better on the next test." 

Everyone felt relieved after seeing Craig comfort Tweek a little. Finally, they can carry on with their normal daily routine of lively greetings, bickering, and endless comebacks.Things are most likely going back to normal now. Tweek didn't stutter or twitch that much either now. It could be because of medication or just entirely because of the mood lightening up.

\----

 

After class though, it appears that nothing was going to be fine just yet. By the end of the class, Craig couldn't find Tweek. He avoided him. To confirm that, Clyde received a message from Tweek, saying he had to go home early to study, which was obviously taken by Craig as bullshit. He didn't have any right to object or contact Tweek anyway so he just let it go. Craig did have a strong urge to send a text to Tweek though. He wanted to lower down his pride and just beg Tweek to be back with him.

Tweek, on the other hand, went off not to go home but to get himself a drink. Oddly enough, his skill in encountering Kenny was incredibly high. That or the two were intended to meet. Tweek walked a bit faster to catch up to the other blonde. 

"Kenny! Kenny, wait!"

The voice was familiar. Kenny hesitated to look back. _What does he want this time? Goddamnit._  Kenny felt so angered that he had to deal with Tweek again. He continued to walk faster but he knew it would be pointless. Last time he did this, Tweek just went in front of him and that was what he did again today, Kenny stood there and eyed Tweek. He felt a bit worried as Tweek's undereye bags were noticeable. But Kenny didn't really want to act like he was concerned. "What the hell do you want?" It was a bit difficult to understand him as his hood covered his mouth and only his eyes are seen. 

"Can I talk to you, please?" Tweek finally said.

The concern on Tweek's face just got Kenny very annoyed. "Why the fuck for?" He did make himself sound unfriendly despite the hood getting in the way. He placed his hand inside his pockets and waited for the other boy's reply. "If it's not Craig, it's you. Seriously! Can't it be Timmy? God."

"Please, Kenny!" Tweek slapped his hands together over his head as he bowed down.

"Were all the things I said a joke to you?" Kenny was irritated.

"No! I just want you to know tha---" Tweek stopped mid-sentence to stare at Kenny's face. His eyes squinted a bit as if looking for a fine detail. 

"What?" Kenny just glared at him. 

Tweek leaned closer to him. He raised his left hand out to reach Kenny's face. His fingers ran against his cheek. Kenny, all flushed from this action, stepped back to get Tweek's hands off his face. "What the hell! Stop being all chummy with me!" 

"Is that blood?" As if he didn't understand what Kenny's actions meant, he leaned forward again and placed his hand on Kenny's forehead this time. "That is blood! Kenny! We should get your wounds cleaned right away!" 

Kenny slapped the other boy's hand off. "What part of "do not be chummy with me" do you not understand?!" 

"Look, please don't resist anymore. Let's just uh..hm" Tweek's eyes looked around for a place to sit on and he spots the bench on the corner. "Just stay there! Come on!" Tweek pointed at the bench then grabbed Kenny's hand and pulled him to the bench. 

"Fuck, Tweek!" Kenny pulled his hand off Tweek's grasp. "What's your deal? Just leave me the fuck alone!" 

"Not like that! Come on, I'll clean that and okay, I'll leave you alone! Please!" Tweek begged him. 

"You do realize that you are annoying the shit out of me." Kenny continued to glare at the other blonde.

"Yes! That's why just let me clean those wounds and I'll leave you alone." Tweek's expression was of deep determination.

"Fuck. Fine, Better fuck off after this." Kenny walked straight to the bench and sat there, crossing his legs. He was uncertain as to why he even agreed in the first place when he could've just opted to run away or push Tweek then run away.

Tweek smiled and followed Kenny to the bench. He sat sideways beside the other boy.  "Come on, face me!" Kenny grunted but eventually obeyed. Tweek moved closer to Kenny and held the ends of his hood, slowly removing it off Kenny's head. A cut was seen on his pale, dry lips. Another one was at the end of his lower lip and it was bruising. A part of his forehead was turning purplish from the bruising. Tweek panicked. "Kenny! What happened?!" 

"That's none of your concern." Kenny steered his gaze at the street. "Now get this over with then fuck off."

Tweek ignored this and started searching his bag. "It has to be here somewhere." Tweek reacts like he had found the item he was looking for. He gets it out of his bag. It was a small box. He opened it and inside were bandaids, small plasters. small bottles and and a tube of what appears to be an ointment for wounds. Kenny was surprised about the box that he subconsciously reacted out loud. "What are you, a nurse?!"

"No, but I carry this around cause my...." Tweek paused then started thinking if he should say it. "Well.. cause my mom said I should." 

Kenny laughed at how Tweek looked like he was a kid forced by his mom to do something terribly embarrassing. "Wow. So you are a nurse?" 

Tweek shot him a glare and held Kenny's chin, moving it to the side to get a full view of the bruises and wounds near his lips. 

"As nurses say, this might sting a bit." Tweek had to emphasize "nurse". He got a few cotton balls from the kit and opened one bottle. He poured a drop or so on the cotton ball. 

"Yeah, yeah." Kenny leaned forward and Tweek very lightly pressed the cotton ball on Kenny's forehead. Kenny stared at the other boy who seemed to be scared to actually apply the ointment. 

Tweek looked at Kenny confusedly. He was shocked that Kenny didn't even react to the application of the ointment. Kenny grabbed his hand, making him dab the ointment a bit harder. "Should be like this, dummy." 

"You're amazing."

"What?" Kenny shot him a glare.

"No. It's cause, naturally, you're expected to flinch even a little. This disinfectant really stings a lot, you know!" Tweek explained and continued cleaning the rest of the wounds on Kenny's face. 

"I'm used to pain." Kenny stated with a blank expression.

"You can't be used to pain! That's weird!" Tweek applied an ointment on the small wounds and patched them up with gauze pads. 

"So you're weird?" Kenny tried to remind him that he was also used to pain. "You're used to pain too. Heck, you even pretend to be happy at school." 

Tweek looked at the first aid kit sadly and arranged the bottles inside. "I'm not. I'm terribly scared of pain."

"Then why don't you fight back then?" Kenny suggested. 

Tweek looked at him sadly, his eyes were glassy.  "Well, I d-don't think I can.."

"Don't cry here! What the hell, Tweek! Everyone's going to take me as the bad guy here!" Kenny shook him.

Tweek giggled a bit with a few tears falling off the brim of his eyes. He slowly wiped it with his fingers. 

"Have you gone mad?! Jesus Christ, one moment you smile then you cry. Crazy kid." Kenny scratched the back of his neck as he stared at the other blonde. "Stop crying."

Tweek tried his best to stop his tears from falling. He suppressed his sniffling and tried to breathe in.

"Hah. I seriously don't know what to do with you. I dislike you but here you are being nice to me. It's like every time I see a reason to hate you, you give me a reason not to. It kind of pisses me off how you mindfuck me with the things you do. Is this what you did to Craig?" Kenny couldn't stop himself from talking again. He was really disturbed by the fact that Tweek could cause him to go soft.

"That must mean you don't really dislike me..." Tweek smiled weakly.

"I do though. Technically, you're my rival." Kenny had to make things clear to Tweek. They aren't friends. His tone kind of sounded like he really did want Tweek to fuck off.

"That was what I wanted to tell you..." Tweek paused and took a deep breath. "I told Craig to stay away from me."

Kenny was a bit surprised. But he was confused as to why he didn't really feel happy about what Tweek said. He finally speaks, "Wow, did that."

Tweek nodded but didn't speak any further. Sadness was reflected in his eyes. 

"So how do you feel after doing that?" It was quite obvious from the way Tweek looked that things didn't really turn out well but Kenny still had to ask anyway.

"Honestly, I felt bad." Tweek looked at Kenny with guilt then looked down. "But that doesn't mean I want to get in the way. I was just not used to Craig being distant, I think. I can handle it." 

"Your face kinda says otherwise but at least, you finally realize that it isn't good for you to involve Craig with your problems." Kenny intended to speak harshly towards Tweek but his mouth had said too much. He felt bad mostly because he now knows what is going on in Tweek's life. Before Tweek could even respond, he absent-mindedly suggested something he never thought he ever would towards his supposedly rival. "If you want, you can ask me for help instead." 

"No! I don't want you to get involved either!" Tweek quickly placed all the stuff inside his first aid kit. He then places it in his bag. Right after that, he stood up and turned to leave, something dropped off his pocket but he failed to notice as his body began to twitch once more. Clearly, he didn't want Kenny to see that so he distanced himself away from Kenny right away before shouting, "It's fine, Kenny! I'm stronger than you think!" He forced a smile on his lips and waved at the other boy. 

 _Right, that explains why your hands are trembling._ Kenny thought to himself and watched Tweek disappear from his view. He didn't want to go home just yet even though, it was starting to get dark already. He rested his arm on the backrest of the bench. His eyes finally gets a glimpse of Tweek's phone. Quickly, he grabbed it and of course, intended to return it. That was of course until he sees a notification.

"Guess the universe fucking hates me." He managed to say out loud after seeing who the text was from. A two minute-long debate went on in his head, whether to check the text message or not. But when you're curious, jealous and in love, you always opt to read the message so that came over him and his finger tapped the notification, opening the message which read:

**I have something to say..something I should have said a long time ago. I don't want to talk about it through text, but I'm not brave enough to do it in person either. Please call me, Tweek. Please. <<**

He felt hot liquid trickle down his cheeks as his eyes stared blankly at Craig's message. He felt like he could just go back to the hate-like cycle on Tweek but the fact that he knew what could possibly happen to Tweek this week made it very hard for him to leave Tweek all by himself.  _Yup. The universe really fucking hates me._ He was drawn back to the chair as he buried his face in his palms and sobbed. 

He hated that Craig was going to tell Tweek about how he feels. But what he hated the most was the fact that the one who actually encouraged him to do that was none other but his own self. Every single thing that happened almost seemed to pull him away from Craig and drew Tweek closer to Craig instead. What was most heartbreaking for him was the fact that he could just be so enraged by Tweek's existence but he just couldn't, knowing that the boy was weak and helpless and just needed someone to reply on. There was nothing about Tweek to hate. It was all the universe dictating that Tweek and Craig were meant to be with each other. It hurt a lot. It really did. He couldn't get himself to figure out what to do. 

His finger hovered over the delete message button. There were three options, two of which would mean lying and the other, telling the truth. He could just simply delete the message and say nothing or not delete the message and say that he accidentally pressed it. The hardest option was to tell the truth. It was absolutely the right thing to do but he would be needing a lot of courage for that. Deleting the message was that of the strongest urge. He felt like if Tweek didn't call, Craig would just give up entirely. This was a simple thing to do but the guilt he felt towards the blonde boy kept on stopping him. 

 _Gah... Whatever option I choose, the universe will never ever be in favor of me anyway._ He wiped the tears off his eyes and stood up, aiming to return Tweek's phone to him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is short :< Sorry, guys.  
> Might edit the errors later on. 
> 
> Thanks for leaving comments. They inspire me to write more even if I am no author anyway. Haha I just get ideas and think "oh hey, I should write about this" regardless of my crappy writing style. :P


	7. Smiling but Broken; Broken but Smiling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shitass chapter ahead. I have no excuses but yeah here you go. don't hate ahaha
> 
> *gives plothole pie*

The next day came without Kenny returning the phone to Tweek. A lot of factors had stopped him. Maybe he wasn't brave enough to admit that he read the messages from Craig, maybe he somehow feared that Tweek might hate him. There was so much confusion in his head that he needed to sort out that night. Now, he felt ready. He leaned by the wall of Tweek's house. 

Just a few minutes, the door clicked open. Kenny turned to look at who it was. His eyes widened as Tweek came to view. The dark circles under Tweek's eyes was the first thing he saw then he noticed that the boy before him was twitching badly. 

"H-hey, Ke..Kenny." The other blonde greeted him with a voice so soft that if Kenny was not attentive enough, he had missed what was said. 

"What the hell happened to you? Are you okay?" That marked the end of Kenny trying to be an asshole to Tweek. The part of him that cared about this boy won over him. He holds Tweek by both his shoulders, staring at his features carefully. "Did you sleep? Were you crying?"

"It's nothing." Tweek smiled faintly at him as he tried to stray away from the topic. "Where's your school bag?" 

"Don't go changing topics with me, Tweek. That tactic never works on me." Kenny scolded him as he brushed Tweek's bangs off his face as if searching for something. 

"What're you d-doing?" Tweek's left eye twitched. 

"You haven't answered my question." Kenny finally got an idea why Tweek looked miserable. Flashes of the memory of the night he heard the meth men talking came to mind. They mentioned Wednesday as the punishment day for Tweek. He knew he was 100% correct about his assumption that this was what was bothering the other blonde. But he felt like mentioning this won't really make him feel comfortable. "Do you have your medication with you? If not, go back inside and take it." 

"I-I already took it.." Tweek titled his head down. 

"I see." Kenny picked up something in his pocket and reached it out to Tweek, which the other boy recognized as his phone.

Tweek took it with both his shaking hands. "Thank y-you."

"I read the message from Craig and deleted it. I hated feeling guilty about what I did so I am telling you everything now." Kenny filled him with details so he didn't have to ask anymore and Tweek really didn't ask. He just placed his phone in his bag. He just had the same weak smile he had earlier as he started walking. 

Kenny walked at a faster pace, blocking Tweek's path. "Aren't you going to ask what the message was? Are you angry? Say something!" For someone who did something horrible, he sure had guts to demand for a reply. 

Lucky for him, Tweek wasn't really good with ignoring people. "You didn't want me to see it so if I ask about it, that d-defeats the purpose of you deleting it." Tweek wasn't stuttering as much when he said these words. 

"So you're mad huh?" Kenny looked at the straight face that Tweek had and was convinced that he was going to be hated. It could've been a good thing if he didn't care about Tweek that much. 

"No, Ken.." Tears fell from his eyes. "Kenny.." 

"Oh come on! Why do you keep crying when I'm around!" Kenny grabbed the hem of his parka, unbuttoning the bottom part and wiping Tweek's face with it. "You want me to be the bad guy, I get it! But stop doing this!" 

"Kenny, I... think I like C-Craig." Tweek couldn't look at the other boy. 

Kenny dropped the end of his parka. He was frozen by these words. There was no way he could react nicely to what Tweek had said.

The other continued, "I am scared of not having him by my side..."

There was still no reply from Kenny. He hated that he had to listen but he did. Tweek finally looked at Kenny. "But I can't let you get hurt... so I will stay away from him." 

Kenny gritted his teeth at shot Tweek a cold stare. "So that's it? You're going to guilt trip me?" 

"No.. Kenny..." He started crying once more after failing to get his point across. 

"I am tempted to walk out right now but you know, what? I won't cause I don't hate you enough to leave you in that condition." Kenny grabbed him by the hand very tightly and walked quickly, pulling Tweek, who was wiping his eyes with the back of his arm. The way he was being pulled hurt but he couldn't voice it out knowing that Kenny could possibly be angry at him. The two made it to the bus station where they'd supposedly take the bus. But the chances of Craig or whoever it was from their school to be in the bus was just too high and Kenny did not want any other social interaction. "We will walk to school." Kenny said without seeking any approval. 

It was just a ten minute walk with his wrist being squeezed tightly by Kenny and Tweek didn't mind. He had a different idea of pain now. He let himself be dragged until the school was reached. No exchanges of words or any form of communication ever happened during the entire ten minutes of walking. Kenny finally releases his grip of Tweek. He cursed himself after he saw the red mark on Tweek's wrist but he couldn't get himself to apologize. He turned around to walk away.

"I'm sorry, Kenny. That was not what I meant. I just wanted you to know that I won't get in the way." Tweek managed to say without stammering at all. Tweek waited for a reply for a short time but then knew he wasn't getting any as Kenny just continued to walk away. He made his way inside the school with his head tilted low.

No matter how much Kenny tried to avoid contact with other people, he still ended up seeing Craig, who also chose to walk. The dark-haired boy had a very sad expression on his face. He felt like the universe tested his patience. Now that he was just almost ten steps away from Craig, contact was impossible to avoid now. 

Kenny quickly moved towards him like he didn't mind seeing the other boy. "Hey."

"What happened to your face?" Craig sounded worried for a moment as much as Kenny refused to believe.

"Why's that important now?" 

"A question can't be answered by another question." Craig didn't sound irritated but he obviously was not going to leave without an answer.

"You love Tweek, right?" Kenny's question came out of nowhere and it was a question far from the questions Craig expected to be thrown at him. What was more confusing in Craig's eyes was the way Kenny looked at him as he asked. He looked very hurt. This took back the answer that he almost spat out.

"I give up on you, Craig." Kenny kept his stare fixed on Craig when he said this then looked up at the sky with his arms open. "You hear that, universe? I give up now!" He cursed at the sky and pretty much looked like a fool. 

"What are you saying?" 

Kenny finally looked back at him, with tears streaming down his cheeks. "I said I give up. You can be with Tweek all you want." 

Craig froze at the sight of Kenny crying. He couldn't speak. He was completely clueless of what was going on. From his point of view, Kenny was just a flirty guy who cared about no one. 

"So you're just going to act all confused there and not say anything?" Kenny laughter echoed as he continued to cry. "I love you, Craig. You get it now?" 

Craig's widened eyes then narrowed on Kenny. He then looked at the floor. 

"You don't have to tell me blablablah. Tweek is the one. I already know. He didn't call you, right? That's probably why you feel sad right now but it just so happened that he left his phone with me and I deleted your message." Kenny paused to catch his breath and did not allow Craig to comment as he started talking again, wiping his tears with the end of his sleeve. "If he was able to read it, he would have called. He likes you back, Craig!"

Kenny wanted to say more but he couldn't anymore as the sob he tried so hard to stop finally just spilled out. Craig said nothing and hugged Kenny. Kenny yanked himself off the embrace."Don't you dare give me that hug of pity! I don't need it!"

Craig sighed. "I don't pity you. In fact, I kind of dislike the fact that you deleted the message." 

"Then what's the big deal of being all huggy wuggy on me!"

"It's the first time I've seen you bravely face things. You called me a coward but all this time you were one as well. At least, you were able to prove that I was more of a coward that you are cause you conveyed how you felt without hesitation." Craig smiled and went back to embrace the blonde boy. This time Kenny hugged him back. 

The embrace became tighter. "Stop talking. And you don't need to tell me that you just don't like me that way cause I don't need to hear it." 

"I'm taking it back. You're really a coward." Craig grinned at him. 

"Fuck you." Kenny buried face into Craig's chest. He needed Craig but he knew Tweek needed him more. He cried in his chest for what he felt was the longest time he had ever cried in his life. Good thing, Craig didn't mind that he was already late for school. He just watched the blonde silently. 

The silence was broken by Kenny. "We need to help him."

"What?" Craig stared at him confusedly. The topic changes was just too much for him apparently

"The one who did this to me are the ones who harassed Tweek, Craig. They are going to torture him a lot more this time and I don't think---"

"They what?! When is this happening and who are these people?! Tell me, Kenny!" 

Deep inside Kenny was a bit of happiness that Craig now called him by name. But there were more important things to think about. "The guys who hang out at our garage meth lab are the ones doing this to Tweek. I heard them talking about the ways they'd torture Twek and I got so worked up that I asked them questions. They beat me up of course... but that's happening tonight, Craig. We can't---"

"You're worried about him?" 

"For the love of god, can you let me finish my sentences? Yes, I'm worried about him. For a moment I wanted so bad to hate him but I just couldn't. He is being so nice to me and I can't just watch while he's being tortured out there. We have to help him." 

"You're so full of surprises, Kenny. So what should we do? We can't call the cops, we'd get Tweek's family in trouble if the meth dealers spill." Craig finally made ends meet. Now he knew why Tweek wouldn't tell him or anyone about what was going on. He didn't want to get his family in trouble, or anyone for that matter.

"We have to make them fight each other and get them arrested even before they reach Tweek's house tonight." 

"How are we supposed to do that?" 

"I don't have any idea. We can think about it after your class. Aren't you late already?" Kenny asked after realizing that Craig had missed the first class by now.

"I won't attend school." Craig paused and went to sit on the nearby bench. He tapped the side of the bench and without any hesitation, Kenny proceeded to sit beside him. "How do you make meth men fight each other?"

"This is risky. If we fail, they'll kill us. I will do the dirty work. You just have to distract them." 

"I trust you enough not to die, Kenny. You better not fail this one."

"Isn't that favorable?" Kenny smiled weakly.

"I'll do the dirty work if you're going to get yourself killed." Craig sounded angry at Kenny's previous comment.

"Don't be stingy. They already beat me up and this is nothing close to the shit I usually deal with. None of them can kill me. I will get the meth package from them and have it hidden somewhere."

"Okay, how do I distract them?"

"You're distracting as you are. Just stand in front of our house and pretend to wait for me."

"Did you just insult me?" Craig cocked an eyebrow at Kenny. "How do I distract them by just standing there. I could punch their faces to distract them."

"Or you could just..not do that and listen to me. They are seriously going to say things that will test your temper so be careful not to start a scene there. If we both get killed, that isn't going to help Tweek." Kenny said with a tone of irritation. "So when the package goes missing, might start a fight looking for it."

"But isn't this going to be a temporary solution? They would definitely be back." 

It was true. The torment might stop this week but what about the next few weeks? They had to make sure that this was finally put to a stop. "I can kill them if you want." 

"You killing someone shouldn't be an option." Craig glared at Kenny. " We should just tell Tweek's parents about it. I am sure they value their son more than the meth in their coffee." 

"Hm, I don't think these guys want to be cancelled on though even if the Tweaks had a good reason." Kenny thought out loud.

"Us going to jail wouldn't be of much help to Tweek either." Craig simply said. "Maybe we can think about it after all this."

"I'm up for that. I don't want to do anymore thinking." Kenny shrugged. "I'll see you later at 6pm. They come around at that time."

"Got it. If all this fails and they go to Tweek's house?" Craig worriedly asked.

"I'll kill them." Kenny said with the most serious face. 

"I'll help you." Craig had the same serious face as he stared at the horizon. 

Kenny stood from the bench but kept his back turned at Craig. "Hey."

"Yeah?" Craig looked at him. 

"Save the rejection after this. None of us should die." He immediately walked away after saying this, seemingly afraid of a reply instead of looking for it. 

\----

The plan finally had to commence. At the moment the clock reached the prospective time, Craig found himself in front of Kenny's doorstep. Two men came in just a few minutes of waiting. The dark-haired boy had to pretend he didn't see any of them as he knocked at the door. No one was coming to answer as no one was home. Kenny made sure of this. Craig heard one of the men speak, "Look at that kid. He is fine looking, maybe we should play with him first." 

Craig bit his lip in an attempt to stop himself from attacking these sex-hungry looking freaks. "Kenny?" He continued to knock at the door. 

"Hey, hoodie kid!" Alex called out to him. "Hey!" 

Craig turned to him and tried to force himself to look a bit less unfriendly than the usual. "Me?"

"Yeah, you!" Alex gestured him to come closer.

Craig appeared hesitant so Alex stood up to approach him. "Who're you lookin' for huh?" 

The other man recklessly followed him, leaving the package and their bags unattended which was going just as Kenny and Craig planned. From behind crept Kenny, carefully making his way to the package. He had to be really quiet or else, the entire plan will fail. He crawled slowly by the fence and reached a hand out to the package. It was a bit too far to reach and he had to move a bit farther to do so. Craig was careful enough not to show that he was watching as Kenny played his part of the plan. If he stared too intently, the men might turn their attention to him. Craig moved back a little as the two men stood and towered over him. He was tall but apparently, he wasn't tall enough to actually win over these guys. He had to be very careful. He spoke to start distracting them. "I was looking for Kenny. Have you seen him?" 

Both men started walking forward a step as one opted to answer. "Oh! But blondie isn't here." 

One licked his lips as he moved forward another step causing Craig to move back three steps. Kenny saw what was going on and if he didn't hurry, Craig might get in trouble. He quickly grabbed the package carelessly which made a bit of noise. Before the men turned to check the noise out, Craig shouted. "But Kenny said he will be home by this time!" 

It was successful. Kenny held the package in his arms. He quickly makes his way back to his house, using the back door. He had to leave the door party open cause if he closed it, a clicking sound might be heard. 

While Kenny was busy hiding the package somewhere, Craig was cornered by the two men. One leaned dangerously close to Craig, with the widest grin on his lips, "You can play with us instead." 

"Yeah! I promise it will be fun." The other went on. Craig was not exactly scared of these guys. In fact, he wanted to punch them in the face so badly. He hated them for hurting Tweek but he knew things would go bad if he did all the things he had in mind, one of which is shooting them. 

Kenny opened the door slowly, rubbing his eyes with a closed fist. He let out a fake yawn. "Sorry, man. Fell asleep." 

"Oh, there you are!" Craig turned to Kenny, who looked shocked as hell. "What?"

Kenny seemed to be in a panic. His hand shook and held his face with a hand. There was no answer.

"What's the matter?" Craig blinked at him. The other two men looked at each other and shrugged. The two knew they couldn't "play" with the visitor anymore so they turned back to go to their usual spot.

"Shit." Kenny went back inside and quickly placed the package in his bag and ran out. He was breathing a bit heavily as he looked at Craig. Craig stared at him in confusion. "What's going on?"

Kenny swallowed. "My homework! I left it at school! Come with me!" Kenny started running away. Craig didn't understand what was going on but he ran the same pace as Kenny. 

One of the meth men started commenting. "That boy looked great, right?" 

"Yeah. Damned blondie always ruining our fun!" 

One of them finally discovered that the package was missing. He started scratching his head and tried to remember if he carried the package to begin with. 

"What's up?" Alex eyed him. 

"The package, it ain't here." 

"What?!" The angry tone was one to watch out for.

Instantly, the guy answered. "I don't remember." 

The two stood there for at least ten minutes before they finally came up with an answer. "It's blondie!" 

\--

 

Craig lagged a few paces behind Kenny. He hated running but the only thing that kept him going was the fear he saw in the other's eyes. He knew something beyond his knowledge was going on. "What's going on, Kenny?!"

Kenny was panting from all the panic and the running. "There were only two of them!" Kenny continued to explain. "One of them isn't there.. Tweek.. he might.. he might be..." He had the worst in mind. He knew these guys were trouble and if he was right about his 

Craig's eyes widened and started sprinting just to keep up with Kenny's speed. There were two more streets to pass before they reached the Tweaks' residence. Also, there was no telling if the other two men had followed them after discovering that the package went missing but it did not matter anymore to these two. They followed the path, crossing every dark corners with sweat dripping all over their faces. The run felt like forever almost as if the streets never let them reach their destination and both had sunk deeper into anxiety as they went on. 

Craig remembered this same fear that had him running before, when Tweek had the worst fever. It was also the same day, a Wednesday, when both of his parents were not present. No one was there to take care of him.It was an unintended visit and Craig just had that hunch that strongly pulled him to Tweek's house for a visit. It was impossible to get in without a key and no one answering the door but he crept in by the window, climbing by the branches of the tree and this was something that felt almost like a teen romance movie. When he saw the blonde boy, he was hyperventilating. This was something he couldn't compare to the number of times he had seen Tweek sick. Despite Tweek having a weak image, he usually is able to counter his fevers. He doesn't lie around or rest for days, he basically just drinks medicine and lets it do its job without getting in the way of his tasks. That was how he was until that one Wednesday of heavy breathing, pained groans and burning skin. Craig was terrified and he had to carry Tweek on his back to bring him to the hospital. Tweek might have appeared scrawny but running was never Craig's strong suit so it was still a challenge. But he was able to make it in time and in just a couple of hours was able to see Tweek smile at him again. Will it be the same this time, he thought.

Upon reaching Tweek's house, the two decided to use the back door which conveniently or in their case, terrifyingly flung open. While Craig stood shocked at the state of the back door, Kenny did not waste any time, he ran up to Tweek's room. He sprang to his feet and dashed towards the door. To his surprise, the door was barely even closed, he slid into a halt as the open door revealed the man he was had thought was missing on top of Tweek, who was his hands being held up. Kenny swallowed hard until his vision had caught a glance of Tweek's lifeless expression, tear-stained face and body which had a few lacerations. His vision started to dim to black and whatever took over him got him aiming a punch square the abuser's face. The man gets thrown off balance but as much as Kenny had given his all in that punch, it wasn't enough to completely knock a grown man out.

Craig entered the room in just a short while, having a short glimpse of naked Tweek being cradled by Kenny in his arms before he had his eyes on Tweek's abuser. He scanned the room for anything worth hitting with and his eyes meet the baseball bat which he immediately grabbed. By impulse, his feet carried him in front of the man who had hurt Tweek and started hitting him with the bat. Every hit was aimless, although there was damage, it was considered very little as the man angrily snatched the bat from here.

"You brats never learn huh?" The blood dripping from his messed up face was wiped before he stood up, shaking a bit. Using the bat, he tried to maintain his balance as he smirked at the two boys. 

Kenny instantly got the sling bag of him and quickly pulled out a gun from it. He pointed it directly at the man. 

"Mc... KENNY!" Craig shouted in shock.

Kenny just smiled a little at him for a second as he felt somewhat happy over being addressed by first name and went back to glaring at the meth man. 

The man moved a step back after seeing this. "H-HEY! HEY, BLONDIE! That's dangerous, you know!" 

"Drop the bat." Kenny was not worried of himself getting in trouble but mostly of the fact that two of the people he genuinely care about might get hurt or worse, get killed. He knew it was a bad decision to hold up a gun but he was determined to protect the two. He tightly held the gun as he knew that once it gets snatched from him, it was over. "Drop the fucking bat, I say!" 

In an instant, the adult lets the bat drop on the floor which Craig decided to steal. He held it in an attack stance. From the looks of the situation, the boys had everything under control. But the fear in Kenny was strong as the other two men -might- arrive. He had to make his move. "Close your eyes." He ordered once more.

"W-what?!" Of course, no man would want to close his eyes while someone held a gun before him. 

"Close your goddamn eyes!" Kenny gritted his teeth. 

After a few minutes of hesitation, the man gave in and had his eyes completely shut. 

"What are you doing?!" Craig asked, holding the bat more tightly as he kept focused on the adult before him. 

Kenny did not answer but instead, held the gun with one hand and used the other pull out another item from his bag. This time, he got the package. He tore on the package with his nails and slowly went down. The man winced as he heard Kenny move closer to him. Craig watched as Kenny spilled some of the meth onto the guy then dropped the package. The guy instantly opened his eyes in an attempt to snatch the gun from Kenny. 

"Kenny!" Craig ran as the bat successfully hits the meth man on the left leg causing him to lose his balance. Craig fell his ass on the floor, reaching on the bat while Kenny was able to jump back and hold the gun with both hands once more. 

"Help." Tweek weakly called out. Kenny immediately came to his aid, cradling him again bit this time with a single hand, the other still pointing the gun at the abuser. 

Tweek's eyes opened, slowly making up a clear view of Kenny's face. "K-Kenny..." 

Craig was so confused about how Kenny was behaving but there was no time to be worried about that now. In fact, he felt that he should be the one holding Tweek now and not him. At this rate though, surviving without killing anyone was the main concern. 

Tweek held onto Kenny. "I feel.. dirty." Tears formed on his eyes and Kenny was forced to let his guard down, dropping the gun on the sheets brushing the tears off Tweek's cheeks. "Shh. We're here now." 

"I KNEW IT! It's was you! You fucking traitor!" A voice was heard from the door and Craig almost had a heart attack after discovering the two men had caught up with them. Kenny had the same stunned look and as the men walked to their direction, he held Tweek closer and had his eyes closed. 

The sound of something hitting the floor was heard. Opening his eyes, Kenny saw the man named Alex gave several punches to the one who had abused Tweek. 

"Are you serious?! It wasn't me!" 

"Oh yeah!" 

The three had started a fight with each other like fools falling into what had been planned. To their relief, these men were too occupied hitting each other that they hadn't noticed Craig crawling out trying to contact the police. To his disappointment, the calls never connected. 

"It wasn't fucking me! It's the Mccormick kid!" The explanation came after coughing out some blood. "Aren't you even thinking?! How could I have taken that from you when I wasn't with you the whole time!" 

The two started thinking. Their minds were obviously clouded when they started attacking their companion. The two turned to Kenny. 

"It wasn't me!" Kenny couldn't think of a way to get out of the situation. "Why would I need more of that?! And your friend is the one who came here without you!" 

The two were officially confused on who was telling the truth. Alex scratched his head angrily and pulled out a gun. "How about I kill all of you fuckers instead?!"

Kenny bit his lip. This is it, he thought. He failed and now all of them are going to get killed. The gun was pointed directly at Kenny's head. "You die first, you son of a bitch!"

Kenny angrily stared at Alex right in the eye. It kind of scared Alex seeing how Kenny was not afraid of death. "Okay, fuck." Alex pointed it back to his companion instead. He pulled the trigger but only ended up hitting his companion on the leg. 

"ALEX! YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" The supposedly traitor tried to snatch the gun from Alex.

"What the fuck!" 

They all stop at sound of footsteps were heard downstairs. 

"What... what was that?!" Alex panicked. 

"Probably the police, you guys are retarded little fucks." Kenny grinned at them. 

"It's that other boy! Goddamnit!" 

"What should we do?" Todd panicked. 

The gun was snatched by Bryan as he desperately tried to aim the gun at Alex. 

The police entered before they even started shooting at the wrong directions and accidentally hitting someone. 

"These boys set us up!" Alex reasoned out as he was being handcuffed. 

"Right." The officer rolled his eyes. "Do the explaining at the office, maybe we'd actually believe you by then." 

One of the officers approached and tried to comfort the boys. 

After hours of distress, Tweek was left absentmindedly chewing on the nail of his thumb. Kenny kept him closer. "It's over. That's what I think at least." Kenny said softly. 

"My dad... what if they talk and..."

"I don't think they will... at least not when they had started fighting. They might kill each other before even spilling out information." Kenny tried to sound confident but he was also afraid of what could happen.

Craig leaned against the side of the door. "Tweek, are you alright?" He slowly made his way to the boy. 

"C-Craig..." Tweek tried to hold the tears after seeing Craig lean in front of his bed. He immediately hugged him. Kenny felt his chest hurt watching all this. He stood up and aimed for the door. Tweek's hand tugged at the end of his parka. 

Kenny didn't look back. "What? Don't worry now. Everything's going to be fine." 

"Thank you, for helping me." Tweek turned to Craig. "Thanks to you two." 

"No problem." Kenny continued his way to the door. 

"Ken, about what you said earlier." Craig interrupted. 

Kenny bit his lip but still refused to look back. He knew he was going to be rejected but what would hurt more was the fact that this was going to happen in front of Tweek. "I get it already. No need to say anything." 

Kenny walked out of the room. He felt hurt but somehow he knew this from the start. Every circumstance had led him away from Craig and no matter how hard he tried to dislike Tweek, it just never happened. Tweek was just too nice to him. Tweek needed Craig more than he did. He was left with nothing but acceptance. He smiled, keeping his pained thoughts to himself as he left Tweek's house. 

On the other hand, Craig decided to be brave enough to speak even though Tweek probably felt guilty about Kenny walking out, he turned to being selfish. "Tweek.."

The other boy looked at him sadly. "I don't want to hurt Kenny... He doesn't deserve..."

"So I deserve to get hurt then?" Craig asked.

"No, Craig. Also, I am not worthy of your affection anymore.. I've been--" His lips were covered by Craig's finger. 

"I know I'm being selfish right now... but I've been wanting to say this. My pride just never let me." Craig swallowed. "No matter what had happens and whatever bad memories you've had, we can replace them with good ones. I'll help you replace them with good ones." 

Craig looked at the blonde boy in the eyes. "I love you, Tweek."

Tweek couldn't speak. He wanted to hear those words for so long as he could remember. Even if Craig's confession came with a bit of pinch in his heart over his guilt for hurting Kenny, he could not let this chance go. He had to say it. 

"I..." Tweek looked at Craig almost in tears. "I love you too, Craig."


End file.
